


Many Faces of the Force

by Jaina



Series: Many Faces of the Force [1]
Category: Star Wars: New Jedi Order Era - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-05-26
Updated: 2003-05-26
Packaged: 2017-11-05 08:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 54
Words: 108,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/404309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaina/pseuds/Jaina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Callista claims she can teach the Jedi to feel the Vong through the force, but will Jaina and her family and friends survive Callista and the galaxy long enough to learn it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Callista?

**Author's Note:**

> AU, super AU. Set post Destiny's Way, only the event's of Traitor didn't take place. So instead of a world without shrimp, it's a world without Jacen. Woo.
> 
> Sorry, Buffy just has one of the best AU analogies ever.

"Two, break starboard."

"I'm hit, I'm hit."

"Nine, fire on my mark."

The blend of comm. chatter that poured into her receiver gave Jaina a picture of the battle she was currently fighting. It wasn't the worst battle Jaina had participated in, but it wasn't the best by far. Most of the people were veterans of the ongoing Vong war, and a good number were veterans of the war against the empire. Her main problem at that moment was the equipment. Fortunately for them, they were fighting Peace Brigaders and not the Vong themselves. Unfortunately, most of their equipment also dated from the early Rebellion era.

"Twin Suns Leader," a voice crackled over her speaker and Jaina cursed the fact that her current commander had sent Wes Janson and his squadron of Tierfron Yellow Aces along with her squadron and the rest of the task force.

"Yes, Ace Leader," she asked paitently.

To her surprise Wes wasn't being playful or annoying. "Can Twin Suns handle the rest of this mess, Goddess? Freedom's Defender is requesting aid."

"We're on it, Ace Leader. We'll finish mopping this up and then give you a hand."

Wes acknowledged with two clicks of his comm. and then she switched to another channel. "Jag, Kyp," she called to her wingmates, "let's wrap this up, shall we?'

"Acknowledged Lead," answered Jag's calm confident voice, identifiable despite the comm. distortion.

Kyp's firm mental reassurance, assured Jaina that he was ready. They began to silently coordinate their actions through the force with only the occasional word here or there necessary to communicate their plans to Jag. The trio flew in perfect sync defending and retreating for the others when necessary.

Brillant pink and green lasers flashed past Jaina's cockpit, the fire of a friend just as deadly as the fire of an enemy. Some people glorified war and made it spectacular, but she knew it was simply something that had to be done.

Checking her status board as they finished a pass through the engagement, vaping two as they went through, she realized her pilots had finished mopping up their corner of the battle.

"Twin Suns, report." One by one her pilots reported their statuses. To her relief, they had sustained only minor damage and no casualties. So far it looked as if the air battle for this world, Chad, would be relatively easy and over quickly. It was more than Jaina had hoped for, but she was beginning to wonder about the ground forces. Nothing was ever this easy when the Vong were involved.

"Form up on me," Jaina instructed, pushing back long term thoughts and focusing on the moment, "We're going to hit the Yellow Aces' furball hard and fast."

Flying in four shield trios the squadron raced towards their embroiled comrades. "Here's the plan." Jaina addressed her pilots. "Each shield is going to make a fast run through the fight. Deliver as much fire power as possible and get out of their before you lose speed. Form back up here. That'll give the Aces time to breath. Then we'll run back through and finish them up, clear."

They led the mad dash into the fight, drilling the headhunter's and other small fighters the Peace Brigade had assembled as they passed. Enemy fighters exploded covering their momentary retreat with fiery explosions.

"This is too easy, Great One," Kyp noted.

"I know, I have a feeling the ground forces are running into much more resistance than we are, though."

"Are you suggesting we go help them out?" Jag asked carefully.

"No, or at least not all of us," she carefully amended, "but some of us, the ones with experience fighting on the ground. The rest should probably form a perimeter around the planet to make sure they didn't have back up."

"Agreed." Kyp cut in, "And I have a suggestion, Goddess."

"Go ahead," she said.

"Freedom's Defender is sending two shuttles full of troops down. We can escort them down and then give them a hand."

"Good, Kyp, pick who should go with us. Jag you're in charge up here."

"As you command, Goddess."

_

Jaina jumped lightly out of her x-wing's cockpit and landed on the duracrete. Despite the gargantuan size of the floating city they had landed on, she could feel the barely perceptible movement of it under her feet. Chad was a marvel in a galaxy of extraordinary planets. It was a water world, but it lacked even the small amount of above water land mass that Mon Calamari boasted. It was also famous for the fact that it was populated by prosperous humans rather than well adapted aliens.

The planet wasn't known as a powerful military or political power and consequently only a small Vong force with the aid of the Peace Brigade had been sent to take the planet. Strange rumors, however, had been coming out of the planet with fleeing refugees. Tales of impossible feats against the Vong and extraordinary secret weapons had prompted Wedge Antilles to send small task force to investigate.

Jaina saw Kyp quietly take his place beside her as they waited for orders or an update on the situation. "I sense something is not right here, Jaina." He murmured for her ears alone.

"I think the Vong would account for that," Jaina replied, her sarcasm evident.

"Beyond that," he said calmly, undisturbed by her response, "Something else is at work here, Great One."

"Drop the all knowing Master act, Kyp. It's not necessary." She hissed planting a smile or at least a not so threatening expression on her face as the official in charge approached.

Kyp, scowling impatiently-whether with Jaina or the official, it was hard to tell- stepped forwards. "The Goddess Yun Harla," he made a widely sweeping gesture at Jaina, "has deigned to help you mere mortals be free of those enslaving your world. Explain you situation and grant her every whim." He winked at Jain imperceptibly as he stepped back.

Stuttering and trembling the entire time, the man led them to the control center, explaining the situation as they walked. "O_o_our main f_forces are being led by the Lady. The Vong are occupying most of the floating cities, but she already has a guerilla resistance set up that is m-making s- significant p-pr-progress."

"Where is this Lady right now," Jaina asked tersely.

"I-in T-tabar, G-goddess."

"Let's go," she snapped to Kyp rolling her eyes at the annoying man. She knew her presence wasn't exactly comforting, but a man that easily scared should never have made it into the military, at least not in a leadership position.

Mere moments later they were back up in the sky, rapidly approaching Tabar. The dark plumes of billowing smoke rising from the middle of the city alerted them immediately.

"The main fighting seems to be coming from the middle of the city, Great One." Kyp noted.

"Let's provide some air support," Jaina said breaking right and down into the cities depths. They wove in and out of buildings, strafing Vong warriors and aiming carefully placed torpedoes at Vong creatures, some they had seen before and others new to them.

Almost as one they jinked away from small plasma missiles and leapfrogged over a building. Finally they found what they were looking for. A small but organized group of people standing flush with a building waiting to ambush the approaching Vong visible only to Jaina and Kyp form their altitude.

"Let's see how 'the Lady' handles this, Kyp. We can set our x-wings down a few blocks away from them and check it out."

"Acknowledged, Goddess," Kyp said simply as they went wide around the Vong and the ambushers.

Setting their x-wings down the two Jedi quickly retrieved their desired armament, grenades, blasters and of course lightsabers. Side by side the two Jedi jogged down the deserted streets, encountering no resistance. They came upon the ambushers just as the fight began. As they slipped through the ranks of soldiers depending on anonymity and using their blasters for the moment, they were shocked when a brilliant golden yellow lightsaber hissed to life on their right.

Neither had been aware that there was a fellow Jedi on this world. Jaina reached out in the force searching for the unmistakable presence and found...nothing.

She allowed herself to be puzzled for only a moment and then pushed it aside as the fighting intensified and she and Kyp drew their own lightsabers. Slashing, parrying and thrusting the pair worked in unison to destroy the Vong. Both, however, kept what little attention they could spare on the mysterious woman.

She was an excellent fighter, Jaina noted, and 'the Lady' fought with the grace that had always been associated with the Jedi. Jaina caught the amphistaff of the warrior whom Kyp had just pushed her way and fliked the head off of it. As she did she aimed a swift kick at the left side of the warrior, spinning him slightly to the side. As the warrior raised his arm to send a powerful blow to her head, she ducked and slid her blade up under his arm, into the vulnerable area in the arm pit.

Whirling as she withdrew her blade she froze for a split second as she saw a Vong warrior come up behind 'the Lady' with amphistaph raised. To Jaina's immense surprise, she aw the woman swing around, sensing the attack as if with the force and behead him.

_

The air was still, quiet, but unsettled as if even the atmosphere was shaken by the violence it had witnessed. Of course, intellectually, Jaina knew that it was the charge, the ionization of the aftermath of blaster fire that made the air feel that way, emotionally, though it was a different story. Or perhaps after all these years, she simply knew that feeling meant blasters, it didn't really matter right then, though.

Right now, she simply wanted to meet the mysterious 'Lady.' With Kyp at her side, Jaina wove her way through the destruction of the battle field towards the woman. She stood with her back to them, talking to one of her lieutenants, organizing and strategizing about further fighting. They stopped behind her and waited patiently, as beffited Jedi, for the woman to turn around, although truthfully Jaina was anything but, patient.

If this woman, and she was definitely a woman and not a Vong imposter despite her lack of appearance in the force, could feel the Vong through the force as Jaina was beginning to suspect, she would be an incredibly valuable resource, especially if the trick could be taught to other Jedi.

The woman seemed to notice them after only a moment. "Hello," she said carefully and then she saw the lightsabers on their belts. "Oh, I wanted to thank you two for your help during the battle. I wasn't aware there were any Jedi here. I'm the leader of the local militia."

The woman had only glanced at them briefly, not out of ungratefulness, but because she was studying several data cards. However, when she did, Jian was surprised to find that the woman looked familiar to her. This thought was reinforced when she heard Kyp his in surprise.

Ignoring that she said, "I'm Yun Harla. I'm leading the Galactic Alliance forces that are her to free this world from the Vong. You seemed to be in charge of the local resistance so we thought we would include you in our planning."

"Thank you. We saw your forces in orbit. I'm glad it was you and not more of the Vong."

Jaina nodded in understanding.

"Oh," said the woman as if noticing she had forgotten something, "I'm Callista."


	2. Path of Duty

"I'm Callista."

The words echoed through Jaina's mind and she took a closer look at the woman in front of her. Tall and blonde, she certainly fit the description and Jaina's own blurry memory of the woman she was claiming to be, but if she recalled correctly Callista hadn't been able to call on the force, except for the darkside. That would mean that something unusual was definitely going on here.

Reaching into the force swiftly, Jaina sent a probing tendril towards Callista. As she had half-expected, she felt nothing, not a hole in the force like Ysalimiri produced, but simply nothing. Deciding to be honest with the her, Jaina spoke up again.

"We were sent her not only to help the people of Chad, but to investigate rumors of impossible victories against the Vong and secret weapons. Do you know anything about it," she asked bluntly.

"Jaina," Kyp said sharply, "I don't trust this. Before she left, she was known to have ties to the dark side."

"Jaina," Callista questioned, interrupting before they could continue, "You're Jaina Solo?" She stared at the girl in shock, as if seeing her in a whole new light.

Jaina smirked slightly, "Yes, I am, but getting back to the point.."

Callista couldn't seem to let it go, though. "You've grown since the last time I saw you," was all she could come up with.

Jaina sighed, trying to keep a check on her indignation. She didn't remember much of this woman. She had only been a small child the last time she had seen her, but the she heard about her hadn't always been good. She certainly remembered how devastated her Uncle had been after Callista had left him and her Aunt had definitely never said anything good about her.

There had been Callista's brief selfish brush with the dark side and while she was glad they had broken up, Mara had always been angry that Callista had hurt Luke the way she did. All of this combined with Callista's continued reluctance to get down to business wasn't putting Jaina in a good mood.

"Well, obviously. It's been quite a while."

Callista looked slightly taken a back by her sarcasm, and paused. She bit her lip and started to say something, then changed her mind. "The strange rumors you've been hearing are about me," she said confidently. She turned and gestured for them to walk with her.

Jaina felt a surge of anger flow through her at the woman's presumptuous summons, but bit it back. It really wouldn't matter if she disliked Callista, which she was growing to more and more, if Callista could provide the answers she wanted or possible a way to end the war.

"I though Luke would send someone to explore them sooner or later. He was always so interested in rumors about the Jedi."

The familiar way she spoke of Jaina's Uncle did nothing for Jaina's growing bad mood, but fortunately Kyp came up with a reply before she did.

"Actually, Lady Callista, we are her as representatives of the Jedi only secondarily," Kyp said with polite charm, although Jaina could feel a distaste matching her own in him, towards Callista.

"We were sent her first and foremost as a representative of the Galactic Alliance to free Chad."

Callista looked slightly surprised at his statement, but continued undaunted. "Well it doesn't matter really. Jedi are here and that's all that matters. You see," she said as she led them deeper into the city, her troops now moving around them, in front and behind, "I've finally discovered how to use the force again."

"Congratulations," Jaina said with sympathy leaking back into her voice. While she might not really like Callista; she couldn't imagine life without the force and she sympathized with the woman's loss.

"Thank you, it's been hard."

This time Jaina saw even Kyp roll his eyes. Fortunately Callista returned quickly to the subject at hand.

"I've heard rumors that the Jedi haven't been able to sense the Vong, through the force, is that true?" Callista questioned.

Slightly puzzled, Jaina nonetheless answered her, "Yes, it is. We've been learning to compensate though, the force is still very helpful."

"Of course," said Callista, "but you see I can sense the Vong. Just as if I were using the force to sense a normal person."

_

"Can you sense non-Vong," was the first question Jaina asked after she regained the ability to speak. Callista's revelation was a shock to say the least and a possibility Jaina hadn't considered in the least.

"No," Callista said sadly, "but I can sense the Vong and the world around me. I can only sense other beings through the dark side."

"Can you prove this," asked Kyp.

"Of course," said Callista. Then she looked back at her young companions. "Are you two capable of a short run? I was planning a small ambush farther along. I think between the three of us we can handle it by ourselves."

Kyp looking very upset that she didn't think they could handle it said sarcastically, "I believe we can."

_

Callista was actually in quite good shape, they found as they ran through the streets, sometimes jumping from building to building top to avoid the Vong until they had prepared their ambush. They crept into place waiting for the Vong patrol.

Kyp and Jaina were hiding around the corner of a building, while Callista waited across the street to attack from the other side.

As they waited, Jaina whispered to Kyp, "What do you think we should do?"

"Blast her now and save Luke a headache," he suggested sarcastically.

"I think that would be of the dark side," remarked Jaina dryly, "but we really should get a medal for it."

Kyp laughed, but he had grown serious. "If she's telling the truth about what she can do, she could be vital to winning this war."

"If she is, we should bring her back to the Jedi to see if she can teach the technique or at least it can be studied."

"On the other hand," said Kyp, playing the Sith's advocate, "if she's not telling the truth she could have another agenda, entirely."

"It's not like we can use the force to tell," Jaina added with sarcasm.

"I don't want to bring her back any more than you do, Goddess," Kyp said, "but if she can do what she says then I think we have to."

"Oh fine," Jaina said as she rose, igniting her lightsaber and beheading one of the Vong that were suddenly coming around the corner.

Kyp was immediately at her side and working together they effectively cut throught the Vong.

"I wonder when we get the show portion of Show-and-Tell," Jaina gritted out, keeping an eye on Callista as they fought.

"Hopefully, sooner rather than later," Kyp added, seconding Jaina's thoughts. But he stopped before he could say anything else, watching in amazement as a Vong began to float upwards, obviously under Callista's control.

They took advantage of the rest of the Vong's temporary distraction and quickly finished off the small patrol.

"Looks like she's telling the truth," pointed out Kyp, still somewhat stunned.

"I'm inclined to believe her," Jaina admitted, "for now, though," she added darkly. She sighed looking around, "Let's get back to our x-wings," she said. "We can get a status report from Jag and then we'll see about how we're going to get Callista back to the Jedi."

Jag Fel slowly climbed out of his clawcraft. After almost eight consecutive hours of flying, he had pulled and the rest of the squadron had been pulled off of patrol duty and brought back in to Freedom's Defender. To his surprise, he was immediately met by a small group of people. Some of the most influential people for parsecs, in fact.

Jaina stood in front, flanked on the left by Kyp and Wes Janson. On her right, he saw the man he recognized as Captain Elisim, the Captain of Freedom's Defender and a tall, blonde woman whom he had never seen before. Jaina didn't look happy, he noted, as he looked around questioningly.

"Right this way, right this way," said with was in an annoying stepping forward. Grabbing Jag's arm he pulled the slightly surprised Colonel down the corridor. Grinning merrily Wes's pace didn't slacken as he began talking rapidly. "The Insiders and the Jedi Council need to be made aware of certain things. It's decisive to the war. Our most adored Goddess and her manservant," he shot a look at Kyp, "must return to the Insiders with Callista. Elisim can't know what exactly is going on here, help the Goddess out where you can."

Fortunately, in what Jag suspected was a well choreographed maneuver, Jaina rescued him from Janson. "Were there any more skirmishes," she asked, checking on her squadron's status.

"No, we patrolled the system and kept an eye on the planet. We provided some high altitude back up for the Yellow Aces, when Janson sent them down to take out targets of opportunity. That's about it."

"Good," she said, punching information into her datacard. "Will any of our fighters need repairs?"

"Four, but only one will be out longer than a day."

"Excellent," she said briskly, "make sure our pilots hit the simulators later. I want them to do better than they did today," she remarked. As they walked into the conference room, she casually handed Jag the datacard she had been carrying and took her seat.

Jag glanced casually down at the datacard and was surprised at its content. Jaina's message was short and to the point, but it nevertheless forced him to hide a smile. It read simply: Jag, dinner, tonight, cargo bay nine.

He wondered what it was about. He hoped it wasn't just to discuss the squadron or the war. All of that was important, yes, but the feelings he had for Jaina Solo..Well he wasn't sure what they were, but he definitely wanted to have a chance to explore them. Just the memory of their kiss could keep him awake for hours at night. She_

"Colonel Fel," a sharp voice cut into his thoughts and he realized that he had been daydreaming. Daydreaming! Look what he had been_

"Yes?" He bit out before he could start again. It wouldn't do to tarnish his Chiss like image, after all.

"I just wanted to complete the introductions," said Kyp. He gestured at the woman Jag didn't know and said, "This is Lady Callista."

Jag nodded at her curtly in acknowledgement and refused to look at Jaina sitting beside her and smirking as if she knew why he had been distracted.

"She's the leader of the local resistance," Kyp continued, "She was also a Jedi Knight."

Kyp sat down, apparently satisfied with his introduction. Captain Elisim took the floor next. "Lady Callista, can you tell us about the Vong position down on the planet."

"Yes, as you know, Chad has several thousand floating cities. Right now we've sent sixty percent of our cities, the ones that are mobile down to the Southern Sea. The severe environmental conditions in that region have kept the Vong out of there so far."

"What about the other forty percent," questioned Jaina. So far it wasn't good, but not as bad as she had expected.

"The Vong have occupied about half of those, but we are resisting them. The other half of our remaining cities are using the time to prepare."

Captain Elisim nodded thoughtfully, flicking on his comm. link to a certain frequency, he waited only a second for a reply.

"Commander Slendar Fleet Special opps."

"Commander, this is the Captain, I need you and some of you people to go down to the planet and assist the citizens in defending their cities. Some of them aren't occupied and we want them to stay that way."

"Aye, sir, I'll get right on that, Slendar out."

"Thank you, Captain," Callista said genuinely as the brief exchange ended.

"I'm just trying to make our job easier, Ma'am," he said as he turned to Jaina. "I know that you and Master Durron have experience in ground assaults. Do you have any suggestions, Goddess?"

"Use Colonel Janson's," Wes snapped of a mocking salute as Jaina said his name, "Yellow aces to provide air support. Strafe the troops and take out larger targets at will. Send down weapons for the civilians and then let the troops use guerilla tactics to fight them. One other thing. Use all the resources you have available, including," she said pointedly, "the tactical knowledge of others, such as Colonel Fel. He has at least as much experience as I do." She looked over at Kyp, "anything else?"

Ignoring her outburst he nodded, "Yes, we have a few Jedi with the task force. They can detect disguised Vong."

The Captain looked around, with a slightly chagrined look on his face from Jaina's reprimand and said, "I think that's all is there anything else we need to discuss, Goddess, Lady Callista?"

"Yes Captain," said Jaina. Her eyes met Jag's for an apologetic split second before she said, "Master Durron, Lady Callista and myself have to return to Mon Calamari."

Jag was bewildered. Something was going on, Janson had told him that much and now he wanted to know what it really was.

This is a Jedi matter," Jaina said defiantly. "Twin Suns will be left in Colonel Fel's capable hands and we will rejoin your task force as soon as possible."

Elisim looked both puzzled and troubled by this. "Great One, I can't stop you, of course, but you should reconsider. This defense is important. It could be the first time we took back a planet, from them."

"I understand, Captain, and I have confidence in leaving this in your hands. We have to do this. There is no other option."

_

Jaina sat casually on the ledge, looking out past the transparent shield and into the vacuum of space. The ledge would have been impossible for a normal human to reach without assistance, but for Jaina it hadn't been a problem. The force might not let her sense the Yuuzhan Vong or their creatures, but it did allow her to do things others could not. Right at that moment, though, Jaina didn't want to think about the force. That would lead to thoughts of Callisat and why she had to leave the task force, leave Jag.

Jag was actually what was bothering her at that moment. Her feelings for him were not confused and not nonexistent, they were simply indefinable. Whatever it was she felt for him, it was more important than she had realized and to some extent that had bothered her and maybe even scared her, although she would never admit that.

She was scared of becoming too attached to him- although she suspected it was already too late- in case she lost him. She was scared because nothing with Jag would be superficial or skin deep. Joy, pain, love, hate, whatever she was feeling she would feel with her whole heart and she didn't know if she could handle that. Right now though, she had to deal with the fact that she was going to be away from Jag; something that he had promised her wouldn't happen and that wouldn't allow her to be their to watch his back.

That was what scared her most of all: the thought of loosing Jag before they had a chance to see what would happen, to explore their relationship. The thought of Anakin and Tahiri haunted her; she couldn't begin to imagine how the young Jedi felt. This was what had to be done though, despite the fact that Callista wasn't her favorite person, she would work with her if it meant winning the war, sooner rather than later or not at all.

She heard the click of standard issue foot wear against the decking and looked towards the entrance. As she had expected Jag was standing there glancing around the room. As he did, she took a moment to study him. She had always thought he was incredibly handsome. He was tall, at least for a pilot. Most tended to be shorter, to fit in the small cockpits. His angular features set him apart and his intelligent green eyes were often an object of many women's fascination, herself included.

Jerking herself out of her thoughts, hating to be distracted even if it was by the gorgeous guy she was dating, Jain cleared her throat loudly. Jag looked around abruptly and find her after a second.

"Hello, Goddess," he said with a smile, or at least what passed for a smile with Jag Fel. It didn't matter thought, as long as Jaina knew it was reserved only for her.

"Come on up," she invited him. Almost every ship she had ever been on had a place like this. The view, caused by looking out at space through the shield, looked like some form of intergalactic art, and Jaina had always retreated to places like this one, when things were troubling her and she wanted to be alone. Now for the first time, she wanted to share it with someone, more specifically Jag.

Jag glanced around for a moment and then back at Jaina. "How am I supposed to accomplish this, Great One?"

When most people called her things like that or Goddess, Jaina hated it. It was all apart of the Yun Harla charade. When Jag said it though, it was different. It was a term of endearment. The only on he would actually use in public because no one would think anything of it.

"Trust me," Jaina said with a grin, after surveying the problem. It was as much a statement as a question.

Jag nodded, thought, without hesitations. "Of course," he said.

Jaina's eyes seemed to focus intently and he suddenly couldn't feel the durasteel beneath his feet. Looking down, he realized he was floating in the air. Slowly, steadily, he was drifting upwards towards Jaina. For a moment he felt a shiver of fear. He was used to much greater heights, but in his clawcraft, not his girlfriends force grip.

He felt himself being gently brought up to the ledge. When he was even with it, Jaina extended a hand. Taking it, not looking down as he stepped on to the platform but instead looking into her eyes, he was transfixed by her gaze.

"Thank you for trusting me," Jaina said quietly.

"You're leaving," was all Jag said. It was meant to come out in his usual calm, even voice, but it had more accusation in it than he would have liked.

Jaina nodded, her face blank. "Callista could be very important to the war."

Putting aside their personal issues for the moment, Jag carefully took a step away from Jaina on the ledge. "Who is she? Janson didn't tell me."

Jaina sighed and sat down in a cross legged position. "She was a Jedi Knight of the Old Republic."

"Good complexion," Jag said, sounding for a moment more like her father or brother than his usual self.

"Yeah, well," Jaina explained, "the fact that she spent decades with her mind suspended in a computer could also have something to do with it."

Jag looked at her in surprise. Growing up with the Chiss had left him with little knowledge of the extent of Jedi powers. Lowering himself to sit beside her, he asked, "Is that even possible?"

She shrugged, "Sure, it's not recommended, but it's just a matter of transferring your consciousness into something that can sustain it. Anyway," she continued, after telling that sink in a moment, "She met Uncle Luke somewhere around twenty years ago-I'm not really sure when. The ship where she was residing was destroyed and she changed places with a Jedi student who didn't want to live. However, in the transfer she lost her Jedi powers."

"What happened the," Jag asked sensing there was something else she wasn't saying. "For a while she was at Yavin Four and she was engaged to my uncle until she left."

"Why did she leave," he asked, curious in away.

Jaina sighed again, but answered. "Callista regained contact with the force but only through the dark side. She doesn't use that aspect of her powers, but it was too tempting for her to remain around the Jedi at the Praexeum.

Jag sat for a moment and considered what she had said, "Why is it so urgent to bring her back to the Jedi then?"

"The Jedi were never able to determine what happened or how to restore her powers, but she can feel the Vong through the force."

Jag nodded, assimilating the information. The touch of Jaina's hand on his arm startled him. It wasn't often that they demonstrated their affection for one another, they simply didn't have the time or opportunity.

"Jag," she said softly, "I don't want to leave."

Softening at the expression on Jaina's face, Jag leaned forward and kissed her gently in an attempt to cheer her up. "It's okay," he said allowing himself a quick smile for Jaina's sake, "Twin Suns will be returning to Mon Calamari as soon as this mission's over."

"I know," she said, "but."

Jaina almost growled in irritation as her comm. link buzzed, interrupting them. "Goddess," she hissed into it.

"Jaina," said Kyp hastily, "We need to leave. Callista's getting anxious."

Jaina rolled her eyes and Jag could see and feel the tension in her body as she grew more and more angry. "Kyp I don't care about what Callista wants. Is there a reason we have to leave now?" She emphasized the last word and as much as she didn't like to share her emotions, she opened the shields around her mind and allowed him to see what she was feeling for a moment. She let him see how much she needed to be there and how much she didn't want to leave. It was a true measure of her exhaustion and her feelings for Jag, because under normal conditions, Jaina wouldn't have allowed Kyp even that glimpse. Duty and the fight against the Vong came first, though, no matter how much she disliked Callista.

Unfortunately Kyp didn't have good news. "A new wave of Vong are approaching, Great One. Nothing they can't handle," he added hastily, sensing her worry for the rest of the task force and Jag especially, "but we do need to be gone before they get here. We don't want them having any chance to find out about this or harm Callista."

Jaina sighed and shot Jag an apologetic look, sorry that she had to leave, but knowing, hoping that he of all people would understand. It was about duty. I was always about duty, duty above desire and she hated it. "Five minutes, Kyp. Goddess, out," was all she said.

She clicked it off before he could say anything else and turned back to Jag. Looking at her with an unreadable look on his face, Jag stood up on the ledge and being the polite Chiss raised Colonel that he was, he offered her a hand up.

She rose to her feet with an ease born not of the force, but of years of strenuous Jedi training, not really needing his hand, but taking it anyway. To her surprise once she was on her feet, he pulled her closer, not saying anything. He brought their hands up and linked them together, meanwhile using his other hand to brush back a lock of her dark brown hair from her face.

"Don't get hurt, Jaina Solo," he said with the intensity he showed only the things he was most interested in. "Come back to me safe."

She nodded unable to speak for a second, caught in the emotion of the moment. Instead she leaned forward to kiss him, hoping her actions could show more than words. "I.." she started to say, when they drew apart, "I'll miss you," she said before he drew her back for another kiss.

Wrapping her arms around his neck and despite her jumbled emotions, Jaina used the force to lower them back to the deck. "I have to go," she said, her voice full of regret as she stepped back from him.

"I know," he said carefully.

Turning and walking out, exerting some effort not to look back, Jaina walked out of the cargo bay and broke into a run when she got into the corridor.

As she ran, she didn't see Jag staring at the door where she had left or hear him say, "Don't die, Jaina Solo. I love you too much."


	3. Telling Mara

_

Jaina stumbled towards the front of the freighter, clumsily rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she made her way towards the cockpit where she knew Kyp and Callista were waiting for her. Her mind wasn't sleep fuddled as she looked; if necessary she could be ready to fly in combat in a second, but for now, when she didn't have to be on alert, it was a comforting and familiar indulgence that reminded her of better more peaceful days in the past.

The four days it had taken them to travel from Chad to Mon Calamari hadn't been all that bad, although it had its moments. Kyp and Jaina had taken turns standing watch in the cockpit, neither knowing Callista well enough to trust her on her own. It had been an excellent opportunity to catch up on much needed sleep that both of them had taken full advantage of. Soon, though, they would be on Mon Calamari and the easy part of their mission would be over.

It wasn't just the professional and bureaucratic headaches that she disliked about this mission. It would be quite likely to have repercussions in Jaina's personal life as well, and there was always her growing dislike of Callista to contend with. Bringing Callista's abilities to the attention of the Jedi Council also meant bringing her to the attention of Luke Skywalker and by extension her aunt.

At the very least the atmosphere around them would be filled with tension and all actions by members of the Solo/Skywalker Clan towards Callista would be examined under microscope. It wasn't exactly the circumstance she had wanted to see her family under again, but there was nothing she could do about it now, except for warning them about the thermal detonator she was about to drop. She just hoped that would be enough.

Taking her customary seat beside Kyp in the copilot's chair when Callista vacated it for her, she glanced down at the readouts. "Ten minutes until reversion," she stated knowing he would already be aware of it.

Kyp nodded, "It is as the Goddess says," he quipped playfully.

Jaina groaned and rolled her eyes at him. "I wish you would drop that while we're not in public."

"As the Goddess desires," he continued with an innocent, deferential smile on his face.

Jaina's eyes glittered for a moment, most likely in anger, but then she just smiled sweetly at him. Both women could see the worried look that flickered over Kyp's face. "Be careful Kyp," she warned, "I think Aunt Mara said something about wanting to speak with you the next time you were on world."

Kyp grimace, "How did I manage to hurt or offend her favorite apprentice this time," he groaned.

"First of all, Durron," said Jaina with mock-anger, temporarily putting aside her worried thoughts, "I'm her only apprentice and second I'm not really sure what she wants to talk to you about."

Callista laughed, causing both of them to whirl to face her. She blinked at them when she realized she had drawn their attention and then said, "Oh I'm sorry. It's just that you two seem more like bickering little padawan- apprentices than a powerful Jedi Master and Jedi Knight."

Jaina rolled her eyes again, "You're one to talk," she remarked. "You hardly showcase the spirit of the Jedi. There's so much knowledge you denied the Jedi just because you were afraid."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Callista denied, her humor from moments ago gone, replaced with a quickly building fury.

"I know more than you think. I have more to fear than you ever will. You fear the dark side because of self-pity over the fact that you lost your powers. I fear the darkness because they killed my brothers and I can have the power necessary to destroy them all. I have more to fear than you ever will." Jaina took a deep breath, in an attempt to control her outburst. She hadn't meant to or wanted to lose it like that in front of Callista. It was best not to show weaknesses in front of enemies, but the absence of Jag was eating at her more than she had expected. "I know you have doubts about helping us," Jaina said partially calmer, but still slightly furious. "I don't care. Act like the Jedi Knight you were trained to be and help the galaxy for once."

The slight shudder running through the ship brought Jaina back to an awareness of her surroundings. She turned back to the viewport and realized that Kyp had just set the ship down on Mon Calamari's surface. The confrontation she had been dreading was now quickly approaching.

As a member of the Jedi Council, Kyp had the power to call a meeting. Using his power for the first time, it was already set as son as all the on world council members could get there. They had decided that it would be safer if they kept Callista's presence and significance a secret for the time being, but at the moment they were having trouble hammering out the rest of the details of the meeting.

"You should be the one to present this before the Council, Jaina," Kyp said totally serious. "I'll give you as much support as I can, but they would accept it better if I wasn't associated with it. We both know that, Great One," he added sensing her resistance to the idea.

"Not necessarily, Kyp," she said thoughtfully, "You are a Jedi Master of undeniable strength and skill. It's your ethics they don't always approve of." She sighed almost as frustrated as he was, "That shouldn't batter here, though. Several of the Jedi on the council are old enough to remember Callista enough to give what you say a fair hearing. You," she emphasized, "will be presenting this Kyp, that's all there is to it.

Kyp stared at Jaina. His friend and partner, whatever that meant, was a beautiful woman and he would readily admit to having been interested in her at one time, at least everyone but her father. However, at this moment he wasn't jealous of Jag Fel at all. In fact, the Chiss raised Colonel was welcome to her, if this was what she was like all the time. If Jaina had learned nothing else from Mara, it was how to be both scary and stubborn at the same time.

_

Callista paced the room where she was waiting, impatiently, watching Jaina and Kyp's intense discussion through the window. Jaina had been right earlier, when she rebuked her for being a coward. She hated that the young Jedi was right, but right now she almost didn't care. For the first time in over a decade, she was about to see the love of her all too long life.

Even on Chad, however, the news of Luke Skywalker's wedding had reached her. It had almost blown her away. She and Luke had, had a farewell of sorts at their last meeting, but she hadn't expected him to move on within a few years and to Mara Jade of all people. That woman had been one of the Emperor's most trusted servants, one of his loyal creatures, and now she had the audacity to play at being a Jedi Master.

If that woman was the quality of Jedi these days, well it was no wonder that the Vong were destroying them. Mara Jade couldn't command a third of the raw power that she had at one time possessed. No, the only way Mara Jade was seen as respectable was probably by using mind tricks taught her by the Emperor on Luke. It simply wasn't possible for a Jedi Master like Luke Skywalker to be involved with someone like her without something being wrong.

If nothing else, she would reveal Mara Jade for who she really was and in the end they would thank her for that.

_

Jaina stood in front of the door to her Aunt and Uncle's suite, feeling unaccountable nervous. She knew that her Uncle had already left for the council meeting. All she had to do was announce her presence and let the announcer droid let her in. Assuming of course, that Mara didn't already know she was out there; her aunt rarely missed anything. Allowing herself a snort of disgust at how she was acting, Jaina raised her hand to the panel beside the door and pushed the button that would activate the announcer droid.

She clasped her hands behind her back in the pose of a patient Jedi and blanked her face of the confusion in her thoughts, projecting a confidence she didn't feel. A second later the door hissed open to reveal her Aunt.

"Jaina," she said with a warm smile, glad to see her niece, "Come in."

"Thanks, Aunt Mara," said Jaina suddenly set more at ease than she had been moments ago, despite her nervousness. The two women embraced warmly as she entered. The last time they had seen one another was in the aftermath of Ebaq 9. Jaina especially hadn't been at her best.

"I didn't know you were back on Mon Calamari," Mara said with curiosity. Her original training had been of a more violent nature than simple intelligence gathering, but ten very interesting years with Talon Karrde had left her with the desire to know as much about everything as possible.

"I just got back," Jaina replied, "It's not the whole task force, just Kyp and me. Something very important came up."

"That had to be brought to the Council's immediate attention," Mara said, putting Luke's recent summons together with what Jaina had said.

"Of course." It would have been the perfect moment for Jaina to explain why she was there, but instead she quickly changed the subject to one she was certain Mara would respond to better. "How's Ben," she asked, "Can I see the latest Holos?"

Mara's face lit up, although there was a tiny part of her mind that was full of worry. "Of course," Mara replied, "We just got a new batch yesterday." She walked out of the room for a moment to retrieve them. When she walked back in she wasn't surprised to see the tension in Jaina's body language.

Her niece had set opinions about certain subjects and this was one of them. Without a word she sat the holos down on the floor next to Jaina and joined her with the ease of a woman twenty years younger.

Jaina flicked on the first one on and both had to laugh at the image it projected. Even at such a young age, the little boy was a perfect blend of his parents features. She glanced up at her Aunt, happy to see the smile on her face as she gazed at the picture of her son. She would hate to ruin Mara's mood, but she would have to tell her soon. They flipped through the rest of the holos and Jaina wondered, just for a moment, how many such holos her parents had of she and her brothers like this. It had to be dozens and dozens.

She grew more restless as they neared the end of the holos and she stood abruptly when they had finished viewing the last one. "Mara," she asked quietly knowing her request would sound abrupt and odd, but asked anyway, "Would you spar with me? I've been neglecting my training."

_

Five minutes later the two women stood in front of one another, stripped down to loosely flowing Jedi robes. Both of their lightsabers rested on a small ledge along the duracrete of the other side of the large open room where they stood. They had found a large abandoned warehouse, not far from where Mara was staying, but out of the way enough to guarantee privacy, the perfect place to spar.

Both women had adopted casual but watchful stances. This was not the first time by far that they had done something like this. One of the first things Mara had always taught her combat students was patience. In a fight with Mara it could take forever for a fight to begin, but that would also be the last break a student got during the fight. Patience had never been Jaina's strong suite, but she had always been one of Mara's best students.

It was a habit ingrained during her apprenticeship and flourishing with the cold and calculating style she had picked up during the war. Leaving her hands loose at her sides, Jaina waited. Everything inside her screamed to throw a punch at Mara or even dance around her a little, but she resisted. She had wanted to spar to dispel her nervous energy, but she wouldn't be reduced to the fidgeting of an apprentice.

Slowly her mind was clearing, clearing of Callista, of Jag and even of worry about how Mara would take her news. It all came down to focus, focus and discipline. She felt it before she even saw Mara's hand flash towards her head; Mara's lightsaber flying towards her through the air at the same time.

Jaina stepped easily back from Mara's blow and plucked her own lightsaber out of the air in a one handed grip at the same time as Mara reached her own. Jaina ignited it as she snapped her arm straight up, catching Mara's sweeping slash. They stood frozen exerting force on their blades, testing the other's strength and then as if a choreographed dance both women whirled away at the same time.

Jaina came back up quickly catching Mara's blade and then they were lost in a blur of blue and purple light. Blades whipped and slashed through the air, hissing and snapping when they connected. Their blades flicked thought the air with the precision of neurosurgeons with a laser scalpel. Finally Jaina succeeded in pushing Mara backwards and slightly off balance.

Easily Mara turned the fall into a roll and came back up onto her feet facing Jaina. "You've gotten better," she complemented her former apprentice.

"You've gotten stronger," replied Jaina returning the assessment even as they launched into another fast series of parries and slashes. Mara grimace at Jaina's vague reference to her illness, but didn't slow down or falter in the least.

Instead she tried a different tactic. She and Jaina rarely had these fights in silence, she ducked as Jaina's blade whizzed past her head and scissored her legs to kick the girls feet out from under her. They had in fact, had some of their deepest conversations like this.

"Are you going to tell me what was bothering you earlier," Mara asked even as she snapped her blade down to keep Jaina's blade from tangling with hers. She casually batted the girl's lightsaber aside and raised her own to a guard position to wait for Jaina's next attack and her answer.

The attack came first, but Mara could tell Jaina's whole heart wasn't in it. It was a classic falling slash from left to right that could hooking back up at one's opponent. It also had an equally classic parry. These weren't fighting tactics, they were training moves.

She responded to Jaina's actions and was about to rebuke her for not offering a challenge when Jana answered her question. "Kyp and I found a Jedi Kinght of the old order on Chad."

"Really," drawled Mara, batting Jaina's blade down and sweeping her leg into a kick designed to knock Jaina's lightsaber out of her hand.

Jaina's new was interesting, but not enough to warrant her behavior. "She was leading Chad's resistance," Jaina added as she used one hand to block Mara's blown and the other to keep a one handed grip on her lightsaber. The exertion was starting to take its toll; both of them were starting to sweat. It was a measure of their conditioning though, that neither of them was breathing hard.

"Anyone that's ever been heard of in the legends," Mara queried fishing for more information. Jaina was usually so much more blunt.

"She claims to feel the Vong through the force," Jaina side stepped her again both verbally and physically.

Mara stepped away from the fighting for a moment, "Sweet Sith," she breathed in wonder. But before she could ask more questions, Jaina had stepped forward again pressing the attack just as Mara had taught her.

Starting a complicated series of parries, Jaina added almost to quietly to hear, "Aunt Mara it's Callista."

Mara's blade slammed into Jaina's with much more force than necessary as it rose to parry her nieces. Her blows increased in speed and quantity, until it was all Jaina could do to keep up with Mara. However, that was the only acknowledgement Mara gave of what she had heard.

After a few moments of intense concentration on staying in one piece on Jaina's part and silence punctuated only by the slap of skin against skin or the crackle of blade against blade, Jaina began to wonder it Mara ha even heard her. Mara was slowly beginning to push her harder and harder until Jaina realized her back was against a wall, literally.

Carefully, uncertain of her Aunt's mental state and unable to spare the concentration to find out, she pushed Mara's blade down and then used the force to add extra height to the flip she performed, going over Mara's head.

"Mara," she practically demanded when she landed. Maybe sparring with Mara hadn't been her best plan of action.

"You were afraid to tell me, straight out," she accused her and Jaina realized there was nothing she could say to that. She hadn't been looking forward to it.

Stepping back, Jaina lowered her lightsaber, not even trying to deny what her Aunt had said. "I was the one who was responsible for bringing her here. I just wanted to tell you in person. If I didn't think she was important to the war, I would have gladly left her on that planet."

Marra nodded and lowered her own lightsaber, the outcome of the match no longer important any longer. The expression on her face morphed from the slightly hurt, but thoughtful look she had portrayed when she was speaking to Jaina into a grin of almost vicious predatory delight. "This is going to be so much fun," she said more to herself than Jaina as she deactivated her lightsaber, walked over to her neice's side and put her arm around her in a friendly embrace. "Did I ever tell you about the last time I saw Callista?"

As they walked away though, Jaina had to wonder if Callista would find it funny or fun. Somehow she didn't think so.


	4. A Surprise For Master Skywalker!

Luke Skywalker sat in his council chair waiting patiently for the meting to begin. Once everyone was seated, Luke watched with interest as Kyp rose and took the proverbial floor.

"Masters, Knights and other assembled personages of import," he said with an eloquence Luke had almost forgotten he possessed. "Thank you for gathering here at my request. I have an important matter to bring before you today, which could possibly be an extremely beneficial asset to the war effort." He paused as a few of those gathered gained interest or simply looked on in disbelief. He was after all Kyp Durron.

"One are last mission to Chad, the Goddess Jaina Solo and myself discovered a Jedi. Not any Jedi, but a Jedi of the Old Republic who can sense the Vong through the force."

At this all of the gathered Jedi sat up a little straighter. This was indeed momentous news. When, however, the door opened and a middle aged woman walked in, Luke didn't recognize her. Instead he noticed how everything about her seemed familiar. It wasn't until the woman gave her blonde-brown hair an-oh-so-familiar shake that he recognized her.

Surprising even himself, Luke shot up out of his chair, "Callie!" he practically demanded.

"Hello Luke," she said with simplicity, although Luke realized as he sank belatedly back into his seat, it seemed as if few things would ever be simple again.

Sitting back down Luke tried to gather his thoughts. He hadn't been so unsettled by something since he was under Yoda's tutelage. This situation with Callista was complicated. If what Kyp said was true, he, as the foremost Jedi Master of the day, would be expected to deal with Callista, no matter what the personal situation was between them. It was awkward; that was the only thing Luke could say about it definitely. Ironically he suspected it would be harder for him to work with Callista now, than it was to work with Mara back when she was trying to kill him.

Honestly, though, he couldn't say he regretted his relationship with Callista..Well parts of it anyway, but he certainly would never regret, resent, or wish he could undo his marriage. Mara was the love of his life and the mother of his child. She understood him better than anyone else in the galaxy. No, Callista was no temptation, he already had everything he could possibly want, but it could make things difficult.

"I nor the Jedi scholars were able to find the cause for my apparent force blindness," Luke heard Callista saying as he tuned back in to the discussion, "but I think that's what allows me to sense the Vong. With the Council's permission," she requested with difference, "I would like to begin studying this with the help of other Jedi. Perhaps if we can discover how I do this, it can be taught to other Jedi."

Luke glanced around the table, checking the reactions of the other members. Most were nodding in agreement with Callista's request.

Cilghal was the first to speak up, "I concur. This could be a valuable asset to the war and also lead us to a better understanding of the Yuuzhan Vong and possibly help us save lives."

Several of the other Jedi nodded, but Cal Omas cut in first. "Ladies and Gentlebeings, it seems to me this is solely a matter of the Jedi, perhaps we should leave this to them and return to our duties."

To everyone's surprise most of the non-Jedi agreed easily and left. This wasn't a matter of inclusive secrecy, but of little relevance to the other at that time.

After the room had lost half of its occupants, Kyp spoke for the first time since his introductory remarks. Luke was surprised he had been silent this long, especially on a matter he had raised for discussion. However, what he said next surprised Luke even more.

"I disagree. This is unexpected and interesting, yes, but it would mean taking Jedi away from the fighting and to be honest, I don't trust Lady Callista. We know nothing of her activities since she disappeared, only that she had been dabbling with the darkside before se left. It's too big of a risk and a distraction."

Luke almost smiled. Kyp was beginning to surprise him with his maturity, but he was also objecting to his own proposal! Suddenly Luke longed for the days when he could predict Kyp's rebellious responses. Things were so much simpler when Callista hadn't been around to create this confusion.

In the end, which was quite a long time in coming, it was decided that Jedi could volunteer to work with Callista as they choose. It would be an excellent change of duty for some of the war weary Jedi. The Council also decided to make Callista's base of operations on Eclipse, not Mon Calamari for both security purposes and so that she could work with the Jedi scholar Tionne.

All in all, Luke concluded, it was a very long session that would likely influence or play a hand in decisions made for years and possible decades to come. Now all he had to do was go home, to explain the situation to his wife, to explain the fact that since she would be the only person piloting a ship to Shelter for the next month, Callista would be joining her as a passenger. For a moment, Luke almost wished he was still on Tatooine, just a simple middle aged moisture farmer. It would all have been so much simpler!


	5. You what? Be quiet!

Jaina walked away from her aunt and uncle's quarters without hesitation. Her uncle had just returned from the Council meeting and she had left quickly to give them privacy for whatever they would do next.

As she wandered the streets aimlessly, she considered what she wanted to do. For the first time in years, it seemed as if she was at loose ends. She had no squadron to train with or do paperwork for. Kyp was busy with his neglected Jedi Council duties and Jag, who she would have usually spent time with when she had a few precious moments of spare time, was off planet.

For a while she, simply meandered around the city, taking a moment for the first time in years to think about the simple patterns of civilian life. It wasn't the same though. Before the war, she and her brothers, with whatever friends were on planet would rush through the streets of Coruscant, reveling in the diversity of life. They had never lacked something to do when the roamed the streets with the usual careless headlong abandon of teenagers.

Now as she walked the beautiful streets of Mon Calamari it was with precision and careful attention to everything around her. It was a habit developed for self-preservation. It was also what allowed her to realize that Callista was following her through her the streets. Jaina wasn't in the mood, so she began winding her way through the largest crowds and into the worst parts of the city, trying to dissuade or loose Callista.

Finally she grew tired of that and walked in to the nearest restaurant. It was a scummy little place that most intelligent, law abiding beings wouldn't have even walked into. For Jaina's purposes, it was perfect. It would annoy Callista to no end that a Jedi would eat in a place like this and annoying Callista was quickly becoming one of Jaina's favorite things to do. She should probably have taken notes from Wes Janson.

The beat up server droid showed Jaina to a perfect table. It gave her an excellent view of the door. The droid started to leave, but she quickly gestured for it to stop. "Another woman will come in, in a few minutes. Please show her to my table."

The droid bleeped a rude raspberry at her as it rolled away, but Jaina knew its programming would ensure that it did as she asked. In the meantime, she concentrated on ordering her favorite Corellian meal. It would probably be butchered beyond recognition, but Jaina didn't even dare to as for a more delicate Alderannian meal that she had been craving for a week or two.

As she waited for the server-droid to bring her food, she kept a careful eye on the rest of the beings around the room. There were a scattering of Mon Calamarian's and Quaren's, but the restaurant's clientele was mostly made up of a mixture of Humans, Biths, Duro's and several other easily recognizable species. So far none of them had given her any trouble or even showed much interest in her presence. Still a Jedi couldn't be too careful, especially in these times.

Silently counting down the time, Jaina focused on the door and right on cue, Callista walked in. If Jaina in her nondescript flight suit blended easily into the crowd, Callista couldn't have stuck out more if she was one of the hot pink, six-headed inhabitants of Rellex IV.

It took Callista a minute longer than Jaina expected for her to find her. It was nice too see the surprise on Callista's face, when she realized Jaina had been waiting for her. In truth, if Leia hadn't instilled her with as good of manners as she had, Jaina would have laughed at the expression on Callista's face as the server-droid led her over.

"It's rude to follow people," Jaina stated as she handed the droid a few creds and accepted her meal, "especially when you do it that badly."

"I wasn't following you," the much older woman said darkly.

"Right," Jaina said as she popped a piece of nerf steak in her mouth, "You just happened to be walking the same direction as I was for the past to kilometers." Jaina noted idly as she chewed, that the food really was as bad as she had expected. It was nice to know that in an unstable galaxy, at least some things never changed.

"I need to talk to you, Jaina." Jaina resisted the obvious reply and an urge to roll her eyes. If nothing else, Callista would give her an opportunity to practice her Jedi patience. "The Council meeting went well enough," Callista continued oblivious to Jaina's reactions, "Although, I couldn't believe the Council had sunk so low as to let non-Jedi determine our fates and sit on the Council."

"Things change," Jaina said tersely, Callista was not endearing herself to anyone, much less her with that kind of rhetoric.

"They said it would be safer if I started teaching on Shelter."

Jaina cut her off before she could say anything else. "Are you out of your mind," she hissed. That piece of information was highly secret and sensitive to Jaina on a personal level. She had watched Ulaha Kore be totured almost to death for less information than what Callista was casually throwing around.

"What," Callista asked, not understanding.

"Be quiet," Jaina snapped. She had suddenly lost all interest in her food of baiting Callista. Pushing the food away and glancing around to see if anyone had been near enough to over hear, Jaina rose, grabbing Callista's arm as she walked out and led her none to gently out into the streets.

"I'm shocked you lived through the Purges," Jaina bit out as she led her away. "What were you trying to do expose the children and mark us as Jedi." She shook her head in disgust. "Now, tell me, without giving away any secure information, why you wanted to talk to me."

Callista looked surprised by Jaina's outburst, but truly upset at her slip. "I'm sorry. I just wanted you to train with me on Shelter. It would help you fight and your mother thought_"

At that Jaina's head whipped around to look at Callista and then she pulled her over out of the way of the passing traffic. "My mother," she demanded, angrily.

"Yes, Leia mentioned that_"

"All right, all right," Jain held up a hand for her to stop. The Solo luck definitely wasn't with her tonight. Of course, Callista would have talked to Leia. They had been friends years ago. "Get in," Jaina said rudely as she flagged down a passing public transportation speeder.

Once they were in that relative privacy, Jaina forced herself to use a Jedi calming technique and to wish for just a moment that her more diplomatic twin was here to settle this instead of her. But he wasn't, so she tried anyway. "I can't Callista, I have a squadron to lead."

"You left it on Chad." Callista countered quickly.

"That was a special circumstance that I don't intend to repeat."

Callista shook her head. "I don't see why you insist on playing squadron leader, when you could be so much more. Oh, it's fine for Durron, I would expect it from him, and non-sensitives like Fel can't do anything else, but you."

"Hey," Jaina snapped, truly not believing what she was hearing. It really was tragic that Callista was the only Jedi who could feel the Vong, because Jaina was bout to loose her temper. Uncle Luke would have been proud of her. She had listened to Callista insult the Jedi Council, almost expose the secret Jedi base and insult her personal choices as well as her partner and her boyfriend. Enough was enough. "Callista I'm not working wit you and I'd sooner take Shimra's opinion on my life. Now this conversation is over."

It would have been more satisfying for her to take a swing at Callista on the way out, but she contented herself with the thought of what would happen if Mara had heard that little spiel.


	6. Oh Sith!

Callista couldn't restrain a laugh as the girl who was playing at being a Jedi walked away. She had been so easy to manipulate. Did she honestly think Callista was that stupid. Well it didn't matter, Jaina had responded exactly as she had hoped. This would be much easier than she had thought. She really could sense the potential in the girl, though, her veins sung with the Skywalker blood like her grandfather before her. Still it wouldn't matter if the girl did decide against joining her in the end. Then Callista would have an excuse to make her sorry for ever siding with that lying pretender, Mara Jade.

_

"NO, THERE IS NO WAY IN ALL OF MY SITH SPAWNED FROMER MASTER'S DOMAIN THAT I WILL DO IT. YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR MIND SKYWALKER." Mara Jade Skywalker screamed at her husband. She was furious, in a rage to be more precise. What Luke was asking her to do, well it was underhanded in a way she didn't think Luke would treat his own wife.

He was using her love for their son to manipulate her into taking that stupid piece of Hutt slime Callista to Shelter with her, and Luke knew precisely what he was doing. He was well aware of the fact that she was almost dying to see her son and it would be insane to send Callista to Shelter in another ship when Mara was already going. It would have been the logical thing for her to do had it not involved any of the people that it did.

Still Mara couldn't believe that he had actually asked her that. Her thoughts raced in a confused and angry, circle that was giving Luke a headache and he wasn't even the one really in his wife's head. He walked up behind his furious wife and soothingly put his arms around her from behind.

"Mara," he asked quietly. He didn't say anything else, he just waited for her response. He allowed her to feel his love for her, enveloping Mara.

"Don't Skywalker," she said, breaking out of his embrace, and raising a hand, almost as if to ward him off as she turned to face him. "I know you love me, Luke," she said softening slightly, "But Luke, this is Callista we're talking about."

Gently he asked, "Is Callie so bad, really?" The moment he asked the question, Luke knew it was the wrong thing to say to his wife.

Mara's green eyes glittered dangerously. "You want to know what's so bad about Callista, Skywalker? Have you heard about what she'd done since she got here. Besides Luke," she said forcing herself to talk to him in a more reasonable manner. Both of them were incredibly stubborn people and shouting at each other could last for hours while succeeding only in getting them nowhere. "I don't know if I want Callista near Ben. He's just a child and no matter what you say Farmboy, I don't trust her."

Luke had no answer for that argument.

_

Elsewhere on Mon Calamari, Jaina Solo stood on a deserted patch of duracrete waiting for the squadron of x-wings, her squadron to descend and deliver to her the person she had spent an anxious week and a half waiting for and missing, Jagged Fel.

_

Jaina watched impatiently as his clawcraft touched the ground and he climbed out of the cockpit. She had to admit, he was gorgeous. Of course, she would never tell him that, he was enough of a vain nerf as it was. Still as he stood there, she took the opportunity to take in his features, including the distinctive white streak that ran through his hair. The distinguished, more mature appearance it gave him matched his mostly formal personality. Still Jaina was discovering another, more whimsical side to his personality that she already adored. She had missed him, all of him, more than she had expected and it all most scared her.

The moment their eyes met across the landing field, her fear disappeared though. Slowly they walked towards one another, finally stopping when only a foot or two separated them. Jaina wished she had just a small portion of her mother's eloquence because at that moment, she couldn't think of a thing to say. Her mind was totally blank now that Jag was standing in front of her. It appeared that he was equally at a loss. However, the silence didn't last long.

To Jaina's horror, the terror of Rogue Squadron and the hero of Wraith Squadron, Wes Janson appeared at her side. "Hello most beautiful Goddess," he said with a mocking bow. "I see you've found our good Colonel here. I'm sure he'll regain his ability to speak once he leaves your magnificent presence." Wes clapped a familiar arm around Jag's shoulder.

Jag, for his part, was torn between glaring blaster bolts at Wes and blushing an amazing shade of read. If Jaina hadn't been so furious at Wes for interrupting the first private moment she'd had with Jag in almost two weeks, she would have found a blushing Jag hilarious. At it was at least her fury at Wes had allowed her to regain her ability to think and speak.

"What is the meaning of your interruption, Mortal," she demanded. Glad for once that her role as Yun Harla allowed her to treat Wes terribly. Unfortunately for both of them it didn't seem to dissuade Janson, merely seemed to egg him on.

"I apologize for the interruption, Your Loveliness, but I merely wished to bask in the Goddess's presence for a moment. I'll leave you with your manservant."

For some reason Wes's explanations seemed suspicious. In fact, Jaina had a very bad feeling about the whole thing. Her bad feeling only got worse as Wes walked away with a parting, "Yub, yub, Goddess."

"He was like this the whole time."

The moment Jag spoke, Jaina forgot about Wes Janson and all of his ewoks, stuffed, fictional or real. "I'm sorry I left you with such torturous duty." This conversation was pitiful, but neither cared. They were just soaking up the other's presence. "C'mon," Jaina said after a moment, "I have an idea."

_

An hour later Jag sat next to a gorgeous blonde woman with the tattooing native to Andoran III. They were sitting next to one another in a cozy and elegant Mon Calamari restaurant eating local food and chatting like old friends.

"I believe I no longer owe you dinner." The cocky tone was right, but the voice was all wrong. Still Jag didn't care as long as he could hang out with Jaina like this.

Of course, no one else could tell that the woman sitting next to him was Jaina and the force suggestion she was using was so good that even he couldn't see through the disguise. Privately he had to admit it was a bit odd to know that he was talking to and kissing Jaina when it looked like completely different person. Of course, her disguise was the cost of their freedom to act like they wanted to in public. Still Jag hoped that one day they wouldn't have to hide their relationship.

"Am I that boring of company?" Jaina asked teasingly.

He turned his head slightly and gave what passed for a smile with him. "You could never be boring, Jaina," he whispered.

Raising one hand, Jaina traced the features of his face and said, surprising him, "I missed you, Jagged Fel. I missed being able to do this," she reached up to kiss him.

He smiled when they pulled apart. "I missed you too."

Jaina sat back and grabbed a piece of fried seaweed off of her plate and munched on it while she listened to him talk. It was unusual to here him talking about normal things; they were usually too busy with missions to think about anything that might pertain to normal life. As she slipped one of her hand's into Jag's, under the table, she had to admit she was enjoying acting like a normal couple who didn't constantly risk their lives for the sake of the galaxy.

So Jaina waited a moment until he had finished talking and then asked him a "normal question" of her own. "What's your family like?"

Jag smiled at the mention of his family, but she could see a sadness in his eyes that echoed her own when she thought about her brothers.

"I have two younger sisters," he said softly. "Wyn, short for Wynssa and Cem. The three of you would get along well."

"They wouldn't be upset that you're dating a Rebel."

Jag laughed softly. He was acting so differently when he had a brief reprieve from his heavy responsibilities. They both were. In truth, they were simply acting their ages. "Only if you refuse to let them examine your x-wing."

"They're both pilots then?"

"Could the children of Baron Fel be anything else," he asked rhetorically. "Cem's pretty good for her age and training, but Wyn hadn't enrolled the last time I was home. I don't know how she's doing."

"You miss them," Jaina stated matter of factly and despite how much it was killing her to say it, she added. "You could go home and see them you know. You're here by choic."

Jag looked surprised at her words and she knew he had never even considered it. "I won't leave you to fight alone, Jaina. Not unless I have to and maybe not even then."

Jaina couldn't suppress a smile as a feeling of warmth spread through her whole body. It grew as he continued.

"The next time I go home, Jaina. I want you to go with me. I want to show you_"

"So this is where you're hiding," cut in a harsh voice that Jaina was becoming all too familiar with.

Callista. Jaina would have been furious enough had anyone interrupted this wonderful moment, but she suspected that Callista had done this on purpose. "What do you want Lady Callista," Jaina struggled between rudeness and absolute formality.

"Oh I just suspected you were wasting your time with the non-sensitive here, again, so I brought an assignment for you, starting immediately." She casually set a datacard down in front of Jaina on the table. Jaina could feel her hand clinch into a painful grip on Jag's. "I was serious about our previous conversation, Jaina. I want your help with this and I will have it."

Before Jaina could begin to speak, Jag was on his feet using their joined hands to draw her up next to him and then wrapped a supportive arm around Jaina. "First of all, Lady Callista," he said firmly in a neutral voice, laced liberally with polite disdain, "You are not Jaina's superior, so I believe that's her choice and second." He paused there to reinforce his point, "Jaina has never and will never shirk her duty [i] to the war[/i]." he emphasized carefully. Throwing out all pretenses at politeness he added with intensity, but not anger. "Jaina was out fighting the Vong while you were still hiding in safety. Don't even talk to her about that."

Turning away from Callista, Jag kissed her quickly on the lips and said, "Come on, Darling, let's go."

The walked onto the streets, leaving Callista still silent behind them. Ten minutes later when they were sitting quietly in her quarters, Jaina spoke first. "Thank you for saying that to Callista, but you didn't have to. I could have handled it."

Jag smiled, for the first time since Callista's untimely appearance. "I know, but I wanted to. She [i]was[/i] rather insulting."

Jaina laughed. "She was. It was probably a good thing you handled it. It wouldn't have been pretty when I got done." Jaina sighed, dramatically and moaned, "I should have listened to Kyp and just blasted her. It would have been so much simpler."

Jag grinned. "You know, you can't solve all of your problems with a blaster, Darling," he replied mischievously.

Jaina sat up abruptly. "That's what Jedi have lightsaber's for." She cocked her head at him as if suddenly realizing something. "Jagged Fel, Mr. Grim, did you just make a joke," she questioned teasingly.

"I believe I did," he said with mock-disbelief, "What are you going to do about it oh-powerful-Jedi/"

To Jag's surprise his teasing words seemed to hit Jaina like a slap and she fell back in her seat, her good mood disappearing at a rate faster than the speed of light. After a moment of tense silence, Jaina asked bluntly, "Will the fact that I'm a Jedi Knight be a problem for you?"


	7. To Obey, Or Not To Obey?

Her words echoed strangely in Jag's ears. When he had first begun to think of Jaina as more than a friend or colleague, he had been very conscious of the competition that Kyp represented. It wasn't the fact that Kyp had been the only other man that liked Jaina, because most of the eligible males had been interested in her; it was the fact that Kyp had the force. Jag was well aware of the bond that could form between Jedi couples and it was one thing he couldn't offer Jaina. It had almost surprised him when Jaina had chosen him and not Kyp.

He realized he had been silent for a long moment, when he saw the beginnings of a very worried look on Jaina's face. He reached a hand out to her and said gently, but firmly, "Jaina, I care about you, very much and I don't care about the fact that you have skills I don't, not unless that matters to you."

Jaina' shook her head in response, smiling in relief as she did so. "No, you know my father isn't force sensitive, either," she gave a rueful laugh, "and sometimes I think he's the sanest one in the family!"

With that issue out of the way, Jag took the opportunity to ask the question that had been nagging at him. "Do you have a problem with the fact that my father's an Imperial Baron and I will inherit that title if I survive this war?"

To his surprise, Jaian answered immediately. "As the granddaughter of Darth Vader, I don't think I have any room to throw stones about that." She shrugged, "It might not make my parents that happy, but I don't really care."

Their eyes locked and they shared a look whose intensity surprised them both. As Jaina met his mesmerizing green eyes, both of them were reminded of the moment, they had shared in the deserted hangar bay above Chad. As they sat facing one another on the small couch, Jaina was forced to consider the true nature of her feelings for Jag. She realized something, now that frightened her. She loved Jagged Fel. She was in love with him. The thought sent a jolt of adrenaline through her veins that only doubled her urge to run far away as quickly as possible. This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't allowed. What had she been thinking? She couldn't care about Jag, not like that. It was a liability and she couldn't afford another liability.

Almost as soon as her minor freak out began, it was over, ended by the one constant in Jaina's life, duty. "Colonel Solo," purred a generic military voice over her comm. link. "Please report immediately to conference room five."

"Acknowledged," Jaina said automatically. "Jag, I..." she trailed off. Her recent epiphany had thrown her emotions into a jumble of feelings that it was impossible for her to express.

Seeming to read her mind or at least, sensing her confusion, he raised one hand and placed a finger gently on her lips. "Shh. It's okay, Jaina. Just go," he added gently, "We'll talk later."

She managed a weak but genuine smile and a small nod before she walked out of the door.

_

When Jaina walked into the room, she was surprised to see a lone Lieutenant standing stiffly at the back of the room.

"Lieutenant," she questioned, trying to hide her confusion, "I was under the impression that there was going to be a meeting here."

"No, Ma'am," he gulped nervously, obviously an officer fresh out of training, "I mean not to my knowledge, Colonel. I was asked to deliver your orders to you, Ma'am."

Taking the datacard he held out, Jaina looked at it and quickly entered her access codes. "Who actually issued these orders, Lieutenant," she questioned as she began skimming through them.

"I received the order to bring these to you from General Antilles, ma'am, but I was under the impression that this was being done at Master Skywalker's request."

Jaina nodded and then said dismissively, "Thank you, Lieutenant."

The calm controlled nature of her words belied what she was really thinking. These orders weren't what she wanted or quite frankly what she thought was necessary for the war effort. Not only would these orders involve her in something she had been trying to avoid, but they would also take her out of the action, and taking a break was something her family had been nagging her about since the battle at Ebaq 9. These orders looked like Callista's dream come true.

[b]Colonel Solo, take half of Twin Suns Squadron. Your new assignment is to escort the [i]Jade Shadow[/i] to Shelter and then provide Mara Jade Skywalker, Lady Callista and the Shelter officials assistance with anything they deem necessary.[/b]

Her orders were short, to the point, and the last thing in the galaxy that Jaina wanted to do. There was only one thing to do about it though and that was to go straight to the source.

Five minutes later, Jaina once again knocked patiently on the door to the Skywalker quarters. Furious with her uncle, she walked past Mara, with only a nod of acknowledgement as she made her way towards Luke. She threw the datacard with her orders down on the table.

"Why Twin Suns?" She demanded without preamble. "Callista's spent the last few days harassing me and I don't want anything to do with or with her."

Not even opening his eyes, Luke retained his meditative pose. He didn't respond to Jaina and the silence began to drag out. Jaina knew what he was doing. It was a common teaching practice at the Jedi Academy used for young trainees. The silence unnerved them and drained them of their anger. Within moments they would begin to fidget.

Jaina was almost insulted that he was using that tactic on her. "Fine," she said calmly and turned away from him, "but I'm starting to think Kyp had a point. You really are turning into an old hermit won't do anything."

Luke's head snapped up at that, hurt by his neice's comment. "You don't know the whole picture, Jaina. You're still young, yet. Some things are revealed only through age and experience that you have yet to gain."

The words surprised Jaina and only added fuel to her indignation. Her Uncle had always taught his students that all Jedi were equal and to question, not simply, blindly accept. "I might not be the most philosophical Jedi, Uncle Luke, but I see enough of the picture to know that despite having skills we need, Callista is leaning at least a little bit towards the Darkside and you want to send her to Shelter with all of the Jedi children including your own son!" Her voice was incredulous and she turned to look at her aunt.

At the mention of Ben, Mara had paled and Jaina could see the tension that flowed through her veins.

"Jaina," Luke said standing, looking older than she had ever remembered him looking before, "I know this is hard for you, but Shelter is the only location secure enough for Callista's safety from the Vong. And, as for the security of the students, I'm not yet convinced that Callista is a threat, but if she is the presence of the other Jedi there should ensure their safety." He sighed in what Jaina realized was exhaustion. "This will go ahead with or without your participation, Jaina, but I would happier if you consented. It is the will of the force."

Jaina locked eyes with her uncle for a moment and then turned to look at Mara. "What do you say about this Mara?"

The look in her eyes, clearly told Jaina that Mara was conflicted about this, but she replied steadily if slightly enigmatically, "Jaina, I want you with me. I don't trust Callista," her eyes flicked towards Luke and Jaina heard what she left unsaid. [i] 'Not like Luke trusts her'[/i] "What she's teaching is important and we need to at least give her a chance."

Jaina's feelings about the subject were so intense that a bad feeling didn't even begin to cover it. Still she nodded. Her objections had been noted and as a Jedi and a Solo there was no way that she was walking away from this. "Fine," she said shortly, "but if anything happens, this was not my idea." Jaina walked out of the room, leaving behind a tense, uncomfortable silence that Luke and Mara were thankfully unused to.


	8. Of Sappy Moments, Wes Janson, and Singing Ewoks

Callista walked up the ramp and onto the Jade Shadow, ignoring the people gathered around the ship. She only knew one of the several people out their and that person was occupied with their family and friends. Callista almost couldn't believe her luck. She was being transported to Shelter by Mara Jade. Surely something on this trip would expose the fact that Jade was not what she pretended to be. Even if no one else saw it, Callista would find the proof she needed. She had been even more delighted when she had heard that Jaina and her squadron were escorting them. Things were going perfectly for her, even better than she could have hoped.

Callista entered the room where Mara had instructed her to leave her belongings and begin to put everything away in the allotted spaces. A short rap on the doorjamb startled her and she whirled around to find Jaina standing in the door way.

"Is everything acceptable, Lady Callista?" She asked politely, but Callista could see that she was only asking because someone had instructed her to.

"Yes, thank you, Jaina," she said in a sympathetic voice, "I know you don't want to come, but I'm glad you are. This well be an excellent opportunity for you to further you force skills and receive proper training."

As she had expected, Jaina's eyes narrowed and flashed dangerously at the insult to her training and by extension, her instructor. Stepping forward in a manner that could only be called threatening, Jaina practically growled, "Callista the only reason I'm going on this mission is because I don't trust you and if you do try anything, know this. I and the other Jedi on Shelter will do anything necessary to stop you."

As she turned and walked away, Callista couldn't help but smile, Jaina was reacting just as she had hoped she would.

\- -

Mara heard Callista come aboard and a few moments later the raised voices of her conversation with Jaina, but she ignored it, confident that her niece could take care of herself and too focused on the man that was watching her as she put away her own belongings. It was unusual for them to fight like this, with their time together filled with painful silences. Still Mara couldn't leave, especially not when she was going to see their son, with things still like this.

So she walked over to stand in front of her husband, who was leaning casually up against the wall and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll send you holos as soon as possible," she said, changing the topic to something that they could actually agree on.

He put one hand on her hip and raised the other to brush a piece of her red- gold hair out of her face. "I wish I could go with you," he said softly.

"I wish you could, too, Farmboy," she said wistfully. "It would be nice to have all of us together again."

He looked down slightly and when he looked back up to meet his wife's brilliant green eyes, he was suddenly serious. "Mara, I don't want to fight about this and I know you don't want to take Callista, but the Council thinks this is the best choice and so do I with a few reservations."

"Well, I don't agree with the Council," she bit out more harshly than she had intended because she softened her voice. "Listen, Luke, we both know we disagree on this subject. There's nothing more to say bout this." She paused and when she looked back up at him, he could see the vulnerability that she only showed around him. "I don't want to loose you over this, Luke, or to Callista, for that matter. I love you," she added. "Please don't do this to me Luke."

Finally realizing how much this whole situation with Callista was upsetting his wife, he pulled her closer to him. Gently he opened their force bond and let the love he felt for her, no matter how much they argued or disagreed, shine through. Not even ex-girlfriends or Sith lords could change that.

Leaning down, he kissed Mara, trying to show her, remind her, what he felt. When she pulled away from him, he said quietly, "Mara, I love you and I love Ben, more than anything else in the universe. Please, never doubt that.'

The smile that graced her face was brilliant. "I love you too," she said softly and then added, "Well at least I'm taking my competition with me," her usual sarcasm firmly in place.

"But you have no competition, Mara," Luke added quickly, "How could anyone compete against you, much less hope to win."

Mara smiled reassured by her husband's teasing words as she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the exit. "C'mon Skywalker, let's go before you get too sappy and I'm forced to kill you."

_

Jaina Solo was spending her last few minutes on Mon Calamari surrounded by the pilots that would be flying with her and maintenance personnel making various last minute inspections of the x-wings. She watched the hustle and bustle with an air of distraction, only breaking her silence now and then to shout an order at a passing being.

She was brought violently back to her present surroundings when a man wearing a flightsuit in nauseous clashing shades of neon yellow and green, came swaggering up to her. Bowing with such exaggeration that Jaina wasn't sure how he kept his balance, Wes Janson greeted her with his usual melodrama.

"May your most strikingly handsome servant bow before you oh most ravishing, glorious Goddess?"

"It seems like already are, Janson," she said harshly, not in the mood for him at the moment.

He looked around, mock astonished for a moment and then said with a cheerful smile. "It does appear that way, Goddes."

Looking away from him, she mentally reminded herself that Jedi were supposed to remain calm in all situations and the getting upset with Janson would only make him worse. "Why are you here, Wes," she asked in resignation.

He smiled his scary smile and said with his perpetual cheer, "Well I couldn't let you and Colonel Fel leave without a proper send off now could I?"

Something in his voice sounded entirely too helpful and interested in her wellbeing and it immediately set off warnings in her head. "Tell me what you did, Wes," she commanded desperation and anger warring in her voice.

Wes shook his head and wrapped a casual arm around her shoulders and began to lead her to the center of the large docking bay. Jaina didn't even bother to brush off his arm. To her surprise she saw her parents standing there with Kyp Durron.

"Mom, Dad," she said carefully, and then turned to face Kyp. She raised a questioning eyebrow at Kyp, but he simply shrugged as much out of the loop as she was. Wes had managed to slop away while she greeted her parents and Kyp, but he reappeared at her side as she noticed a crowd beginning to join them.

***I have a bad feeling about this,*** she sent Kyp, through the force. His attempt at mental reassurance wasn't all that reassuring.

"Ladies and Gentlebeings," Wes called out loudly, breaking into her silent exchange, "As most of you know, our very own Great One, the Goddess Jaina Solo, is leaving us for another assignment. Gather around as we give her a send off worthy of the Goddess Yun Harla, from beings who embody deception. They're short, they're furry, they're cute and they can take out stormtrooper battalions with rocks. Straight from the towering forests of Endor, I present you with the national band of the Ewoks."

As he finished speaking the crowd burst in to cheers and laughter and Han and Leia moved to positions on either side of their daughter, laying a hand on her arm that looked like a gesture of sympathy. In reality, it was to prevent Jaina from charging at Wes and doing serious bodily harm.

In growing horror, she watched as a small group of about a dozen Ewoks appeared in front of her on a makeshift stage and began what appeared to be a song and dance routine. To her surprise and further horror, they not only seemed to be singing in basic, but the song appeared to be custom tailored for this performance.

Jaina Solo, she's the Sword of the Jedi And a glorious Goddess She started as a Rogue and now 'Suns follow her lead And with her heart in song, she slays the Vong She flies without fear To save those near and dear

Jaina's face was turning red, whether from anger or embarrassment at Wes's very public prank, it wasn't quite clear. Kyp's suspicious coughing fit wasn't helping her temper any, either.

Fortunately for Jaina and Wes Janson for that matter, the Ewoks song was cut abruptly short, but an authoritative shout.

"All right, Janson, that's enough," Mara Jade Skywalker called out loudly as she walked towards them, Luke only a step behind her, "Tell them to stop. I'm leaving now, so I need Jaina and her pilots."

Jaina shot a thankful smile at her aunt as the Ewoks stopped immediately. She shot an imperious glare out at the heartily laughing crowd that sent the nearest people into immediate silence and then headed towards Wes with a malicious grin on her face.

Wes was already scrambling through the crowd when Mara spoke again, this time to her niece. "Not now, Jaina, we need to go." She smiled appeasingly and there was a glint of humor in her eyes. Jaina wasn't sure if it was at her own expense of Wes's. "It's okay," she added menacingly, "It can wait until we get back. You know what they say, revenge is best served cold."

Jaina nodded, but for a moment it seemed as if she were still contemplating going after him. Then she turned away and said sharply to the crowd, "Okay break it up people, I'm sure you all have duties elsewhere."

The majority of the crowd began to move away. Turning back to the people who remained, she saw only her pilots and her parents. Internally she grimaced at the thought of how bad that little stunt had been for discipline and then said firmly, "Well you heard the Jedi Master, get in your cockpits."

They all complied quickly with a few stifled snorts and coughs that she was fairly certain really weren't snorts of coughs at all. She quickly hugged her mother, without meeting Leia's eyes and mumbled her farewell quickly before she turned to her father, not in the mood for anything Leia might have to say.

She hugged her father, who murmured a quick, "Hang in there, Kid. I love you," in her ear, before she walked towards her x-wing. Today had not gone well. There had been her confrontation with Callista and then Janson's prank. Fortunately, Callista didn't seem to have heard it which Jaina was infinitely thankful for.

Without a backwards glance, Jaina climbed gratefully into the cockpit and pulled on her helmet, content to focus on the mission for the moment and not think about facing whatever Jag and Kyp's reaction was. The last thing Jaina heard before her cockpit snapped closed was Janson's voice in her ear, "I'll be waiting for your return. Oh and yub, yub, Goddess."


	9. Of Actual Plot And Kiddie Cuteness

Four days with Callista in hyperspace. They had been the longest four days of Mara's life. Callista had silently insisted on spending almost every waking moment with Mara, watching her every move.

Mara had grown accustomed to being very visible in social and everyday situations after marrying Luke, but after four days, it was getting annoying and tiresome. She had no interest in Callista as a potential friend and she was certain that Callista felt the same way about her and it certainly wasn't making the flight seem any shorter. Neither woman wanted to be there with the other and both allowed it to show on more than one occasion but again both cared about their respective goals more than their mutual dislike. Other than that, the two women really had nothing in common except of course, for Luke and he was not a topic either of them wanted to discuss. So that left them with little but pointed conversation or angry silence.

Mara was grateful that the course change necessary to take them to Shelter had forced them to drop out of hyperspace and was allowing her to speak, however briefly, to her niece. Their return to real space was routine enough with Twin Suns squadron appearing right behind the 'Shadow only moments later.

"Twins Suns Leader to the Jade Shadow. Is everything okay, Mara?" Jaina asked casually.

"Of course," she paused and checked her consoles. "Have you ever done this approach manually, Jaina?"

Silence hung in the air for a moment and then Jaina switched over to a private channel, "Twice," she said shortly, "Why?" Her voice was all business now, her attention fully focused on this small deviation from the original plan. Mara rarely asked questions like that idly, without something particular in mind.

"Something about this doesn't feel right, Jaina. The safe lanes aren't well known, but it is possible that.." Mara trailed off and Jaina reached out through the force to her aunt.

It added another level of communication to their conversation and sometimes provided them with an advantage that they had used many times during Jaina's apprenticeship.

"What about my pilots," Jaina questioned, knowing her aunt well enough to see where Mara was going with this, "With the exception of Kyp none of my pilots have force skills. How do you want to handle that?"

Mara considered that for a moment before she found the solution that they needed. The technique hadn't been widely used in years because most pilots worth their pay despised it, but it would work in this situation.

"One of your pilots can dock in the 'Shadow and we can slave the other ships to ours, one to the 'Shadow, one to your x-wing and one to Kyp's."

Jaina nodded even though no one could see her. "All right," she switched back to the squadron frequency and Mara once again found herself under Callista's intense scrutiny and verbal assault.

"What do you think you're doing, Jade? The chance of getting us all killed is too great. The space in this area is too unpredictable."

"Callista," Mara said not looking up as she busied herself with preparing her ship for what they were about to do, "You're job is to teach the Jedi how to fell the Vong through the force. My job is to get you there." She looked up and met Callista's eyes challengingly, "Don't tell me how to do my job."

"I won't tell you how to do you're job as long as you don't do something stupid and unnecessary because you're afraid that if you take the normal route you might take the chance that the Vong will be there."

Mara looked at her incredulously, "Callista," she said patiently as if talking to a small child, "I'm not going to be goaded into ignoring my instincts or the force just because you feel like calling me a coward." She smirked and looked back down at her console, "Besides with your record, you shouldn't be calling anyone a coward. From what I've heard, running away is what you do best."

Mara didn't need to look up to that, that shot had penetrated Callista's shields and scored a palpable hit.

The older woman opened her mouth to let out a scalding reply.

"Mara," Jaina's voice broke into their increasingly heated conversation and cut Callista off, "Deek will dock with you and Esmen's going to slave her x- wing to the 'Shadow. I'll slave Jag's clawcraft to my x-wing and Kyp will take Tonner."

"Okay," Mara acknowledged the ships positions, but then paused for a moment. A brief frown creased her features, "Are you sure you can handle this, Jaina. I couldn't face your mother," she stumbled over what she was saying, "if something happened to you..."

Jaina laughed, "Mara I'm a Solo and a Jed Knight, my father set the record for the Kessel run and you taught me how to fly, yourself. Of course, I can do this."

"Okay," Mara said with a laugh, "I just wanted to make sure I had asked you. Try and keep up with me, though," she challenged her niece.

Jaina snorted indignantly in response and Mara could practically see her cocky smile, "Don't worry about that, Mara," she started to add a comeback of her own when Kyp's voice broke into their banter.

"If our [i]mission leaders[/i]," he stressed the word "leaders" pointedly, "would deign to continue this very important discussion later, we could actually get to the mission sometime in the next day or so."

"Sarcasm duly noted, Durron," Jaina responded, but both were back to the business at hand.

"Are all the appropriate ships computer's slaved together," Mara asked.

When everyone checked in with affirmative answers, she flipped to a private channel to address Jaina and Kyp. It would be the last time the three Jedi would be able to talk once they entered hyperspace. "Both of you know what to do?"

"Affirmative," Kyp's answer was short and too the point.

"Miss the black holes and get to Shelter first," was Jaina's quick reply.

"Only in you dreams, Goddess," Kyp shot back.

"Children," Mara said coolly, with an air of mock-disapproval. This time she was the one to break up the bickering. "Later," she added firmly. "Enter hyperspace on my mark," she added before they could get off of the subject again. Durron was right the longer they stayed her the longer it would take them to reach Shelter.

\- -

Jaina listened as Mara counted down. "Have you done this before?" Jag's voice in her ear made her jump. She had almost forgotten that he was still on her comm. frequency.

She smiled, "Several times. Do you trust me?"

"I was just curious. Sometimes you're very mysterious about your Jedi skills. I'm not sure what can ask about and what are official Order secrets."

Jaina frowned. Jag had said that didn't care about the fact that she was a Jedi and she didn't think he would lie to her. Not about something like this. "You can always ask me about anything," she said softly ignoring the current situation for a moment. Before Jag could reply though, she heard Mara say, "Mark," and she automatically pushed the levers forward that would take them into hyperspace, falling deeply into the force as she did so.

It was nothing like the piloting that she normally did. She could feel the incredible speeds they were moving at and the convoluted twists and turns that the gravity in the region had been pulled into by the numerous black holes and large stars.

She danced through the tiniest openings, flirted with the gravity of large suns as it tried to suck them in and used it to her own advantage whenever she could. Sweat poured down her face, and she could feel the tension in her muscles building as the time wore on. She smiled though, because this.. Well, this was fun!

Four hours later the most dangerous sections of the region surrounding Shelter was behind them. It had been some of the tightest flying that she had ever done and she didn't even remember half of it. She had been so deeply into the flow of the force, that it reminded her of her flight at Lando Calrissian's asteroid belt.

Still, as they exited hyperspace, she had a job to do. Quickly she undid the controls that slaved Jag's ship to her own as Mara and Kyp did the same aboard their own ships. Now she had on her actual duty here, escorting the Jade Shadow.

"Twin Two," she called out as her half-squadron of pilots checked in, "Take Twin Five and go in ahead of the 'Shadow. Twin Three, take Twin Six and provide some cover from above us. Twin Four, you're with me." She issued her orders with quick efficiency and the squadron easily fell into their positions, leaving Jaina with more time to think before they landed.

Her anger had cooled considerably in the days since they had left Mon Calamari. She was in fact, almost smiling as she thought about Mara's imminent reunion with her son. Even from this distance she could feel her Aunt's impatient joy, that wasn't even dampened by Callista's presence. That scared Jaina at the same time it cheered her up. With her own Jedi trained memory, she remembered when she and Jacen had returned to Coruscant for the first time since their birth. They had only been two or three years old and her mother had been just another stranger to her then. It had been an awkward and almost frightening experience for her back then.

It worried her because she knew how crushed Mara would be if Ben didn't recognize her acted as if he was afraid of her. Her aunt had never told her directly, but she knew it was one of Mara's greatest fears. For such a small child, he already held an incredible power over his mother. For the moment, though, all she could do was hope.

She touched her x-wing down with the ease of routine and popped her cockpit as she stretched and slipped her helmet off. She climbed out slowly and glanced around at her fellow pilots. "Okay, people," she said with a smile as they waited for their new orders, "You're free to go. As of this moment we have no orders. We will, of course, be on stand-by should we be needed, but for the moment just leave your comm. links on. Go get some sleep, rest, eat, whatever seats."

Most of them, tired from the almost constant fighting before this mission were already dispersing while she was talking. Kyp disappeared quickly, too mumbling something about catching up on sleep.

Jag was the only one who lingered with Jaina, Mara and Callista as a group of young Jedi students, led by Kam Solousar and Tionne approached. Jaina stepped up next to her aunt as Tionne, carrying a sleepy Ben Skywalker, stopped in front of Mara.

"Ben," the former assassin who could normally sound terrifying even in the most reached out slowly for her son.

Ben gurgled and waved his hands happily, seeming to suddenly wake up. As Mara raised him to her eye level, Jaina could feel them connect through the force and smiled, her worries relieved as Ben shrieked, "Mama!"

Jaina tuned away as she realized everything was okay on that front and that Mara would undoubtedly not wish not to be disturbed for at least the next few hours. As she turned towards the younger children, she noted that Jag was engaged in a quite conversation with Kam. She gestured at the kids and Valin Horn stepped out of the crowd and walked towards her quickly.

"Jedi Solo," he said formally.

She tried to nod and reply with equal formality, but couldn't pull it off and abandoned the formality. "Hey, Val," she said and ruffled his hair gently, "Relax, it's just me. Our parent have known each other for years and I'm the same student that you [i]accidentally[/i] threw that mud on back at the academy."

He blushed at the memory of that particular prank, but he lost his stiffness, "Sure, Jaina," he responded.

She grinned as she saw Wedge's kid, Myri and Syal, come up behind him. "Just the people I wanted to see," she added as she rummaged through her flight suits many pockets and pulled out several datacards and holocubes. "Your parents asked me to give you these before I left." She had been more than happy to oblige.

As they examined their gifts with excitement, Jaina focused on Valin. "Would you mind doing me a favor, Val?"

He looked up and nodded quickly, "Sure," he said eagerly, "Anything."

She struggled not to laugh at his enthusiasm and gestured to Callista. "Would you mind escorting Callista to her quarters? I have a few things to take care of."

He nodded looking slightly crestfallen that, that was all she wanted, but started quickly nevertheless. Jaina watched slightly bemused as Valin with Syal in tow, led Callista away. She caught a small gesture out of the corner of her eye as they rounded the corner and she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

She turned to Myri, who was still standing beside her and asked curiously, "What was that all about?"

"What," Myri asked, seeming preoccupied and disinterested.

"Valin, Syal, the hand holding.."

To Jaina's surprise, Myri rolled her eyes and snorted with a little sister's disdain. "Oh, that. They're 'dating.'" Clearly disgusted by her older sister's antics, Myri walked away, leaving Jaina feeling happier and more amused than she had been in quite some time. It was very amusing to imagine Wedge's reaction when he found out his daughter was dating Valin Horn, even if they were only twelve and thirteen.

Maybe if she didn't have to be around Callista too much and she could spend some quality time with Jag, Jaina thought, this mission might not be so bad after all.


	10. Die, Callista, Die!

It was late at night, but Jaina was still wandering the halls of Shelter. This was only her second visit to the Jedi sanctuary, but she felt so at home here. She supposed that it had something to do with the fact that the Jedi Academy on Yavin Four had been the closest thing to a permanent place of residence that she had ever had. It only made sense that she should feel equally at home here.

She had to admit it was also very nice not to be on a ship anymore, not that Shelter was a large planet, but still. She smiled thinking back over the day.

After they had landed, she'd had little to do with Callista, who already seemed to be deeply involved with Tionne and her new teaching duties. She had actually spent most of the day running interference for Mara, insuring that no one interrupted her time alone with Ben.

Now she was simply wandering. She supposed in a few hours, she would turn in for the night and get some sleep, but for now she just wanted to explore. It had been one of her favorite pastimes as a child on Coruscant. There was always something new to see and discover on the bustling planet and she and her brothers had reveled in it. She was feeling rather nostalgic, actually, for a time when she had her brothers with her, when things were so much simpler. So much safer.

A slight noise behind her in the hall, darkened to simulate night, put her immediately on edge. She realized as she slipped silently back into the shadows that she was probably overreacting and that it was most likely just a student wandering around like her. Still, she remained hidden and waited as the person walked closer. When they got close enough for her to realize that it was Jag, she wavered between a sigh of annoyance or a snort of relief. In the end, she settled for a smile of pure happiness ands stepped out of the shadows.

He jumped slightly at her unexpected appearance, but didn't appear to be too surprised to see her. "You felt like walking, too," he asked quietly as he held out a hand to her.

Taking it, and falling into step beside him, Jaina answered softly, "Yeah."

"You grew up at a Jedi Academy like this one?" Jag asked her curiously a moment later.

Jaina smiled and nodded, "Pretty much. I lived on Yavin 4 from the time I was thirteen or fourteen until this war started." She shrugged, 'We would go back to Coruscant from time to time to see Mom and Dad, but Jacen and Anakin were both there so it wasn't so bad."

"Your relationship with your parents wasn't exactly normal," he observed.

Jaina would have taken offense at that statement, from almost anyone else, but when Jag said it, it didn't bother her. "Yeah, we didn't always see them a lot, even when we were on the same planet with them. Most of the time Mom was busy with the government and Dad was right there behind her to help her, or off on mission of his own."

She looked away for a moment and seemed to grow pensive. Jag watched her for a moment and hated the sadness he saw in her eyes. He knew Jaina's relationship with her mother wasn't the best, but he hadn't meant to make her sad.

"Hey," he said awkwardly giving her hand a squeeze and allowing himself a shadow of a smile. "I didn't mean to upset you."

She looked back up at him and returned his grin playfully, the shadows clouding her eyes and thoughts leaving as she turned her attention back to him. "Do you have any suggestion about cheering me up," she asked innocently.

"I might," he said noncommittally.

She laughed and stopped walking. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped closer to him, looking up into his eyes. "Does this give you any help in implementing your suggestions."

For a moment, Jaina thought he would keeping talking and continue to torture her, but he didn't. He leaned over to kiss her, instead. They stayed there for a moment enjoying being together without the constant pressures that they were usually under. They were about to come up for air for the second or was it third time when a loud cough startled them.

They practically jumped away fro one another. Jaina found herself staring into the face of an amused but disapproving Kam Solusar. The look he shot Jaina took her back years and she felt like a student caught in the halls well after curfew. Not that, that would ever have happened to her..

Kam cleared his throat and looked steadily at her. "You're not a student her anymore, Jaina, so I can't say anything to you about this, but as a Jedi I would expect you to set a good example for the younger students.

She nodded and let out a breath she hadn't realized that she was holding. Once Kam was out of sight, she let out a laugh and turned to face Jag. "I bet you never got busted for kissing in the halls when you were in school," she teased him.

His smile was smug as he turned away, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

The comment, so unlike Jag, left her gaping for a moment before she caught back up with him. "What?"

\- -

Callista grimaced mentally as she listened to Tionne talk. The woman had been one of her few friends when she had briefly lived on Yavin 4 years ago. Now, however, Callista just wished that she would go away. Her Master's would be very displeased with her if she failed to contact them. They allowed her to pursue her own goals with Jaina and Mar because it supported their mission, but they would not accept any excuse if she was late in reporting in.

She was much closer to her objective now and everything was still going according to plan. She had felt a pang of guilt when she saw the Jedi children but she had pushed it away. Defying her Master's at this point wouldn't be worth what it would cost her.

She had taken the moral high road once and all it had gotten her was nearly thirty years trapped in a computer. In the years after she had left Luke, her principles had slowly disappeared as the Galaxy at away at them. Eventually she had given in to practicality and developed a policy of survival at all cost. At all cost to others, that is, she had paid her dues to the universe years ago.

It took her two hours to free herself of Tionne and when she did it was only with the promise that they would talk again soon. Tionne was eager to learn this new skill and teach it to the children.

At last, though when she was sure she wouldn't be interrupted-her Masters would hate that more if she was caught than if she was late-she removed the object she had hidden ever so carefully among her belongings. She set it on the table and moved carefully and skillfully to attune the Villip she used to make her reports.


	11. Mother and Son

Mara Jade Skywalker looked into blue eyes that seemed to hold both wisdom and innocence. She was reminded forcefully of her husband. Ben might have her pale coloring and reddish hair, but he had definitely inherited his father's eyes. And right now he was eyeing her steadily, seeming to study her even as she watched him and took in every detail about him, to be carefully stored in her memory and examined later when she couldn't be with him. He smiled sweetly up at her and reached for her hand with the clumsiness of a child. Mara felt her hear melt as she picked up her son and easily conceded to defeat. Her son well and truly had her wrapped around his chubby little finger and she knew it. It wasn't the life she had envisioned for herself as a teenager, at least when she had bothered to waste time on dreams. She didn't care though, this life was better than anything she could have imagined and was certainly nothing the Emperor would have ever taught her about.

She shook her head, dispelling those thoughts and padded towards the kitchen o bare feet, to find something for Ben's breakfast. His patience and good nature would only last so long in the face of hunger. AS she walked past her couch she stopped and rocked back on her feet. Her niece lay sprawled on her couch, sleeping soundly. She must have snuck in during the night. That thought gave Mara a moments pause. She hadn't heard Jaina come in and in the long run that could be a very dangerous habit to get into.

Mara took a moment to study her niece. Even in her sleep, Jain had a happy smile on her face and she looked younger than she had seemed in years. Jaina had spent the previous day ensuring that Mara had some private time with her son and she was grateful for that. Still she wondered why Jaina was sleeping on her couch.

"Jaina," she said softly, trying to ease her niece out of her slumber. Jaina had, had far too many rude awakenings in her life, awakened by hurried shouts or screaming alarms and after all she was on a vacation of sorts.

Jaina shifted on the couch and slowly opened her eyes. As she grew more awake the smile on her face grew to contagious proportions. "Aunt Mara," she mumbled, still groggy from sleep. If possible her smile grew even wider as she saw Ben.

"Hey there, big guy," she drawled with a heavy fake Corellian accent.

Ben giggled at his silly cousin and to the surprise of both women stuck his arms out towards Jaina. She shot a questioning look at Mara and relaxed at her easy smile. She wouldn't have blamed her aunt if she had wanted to keep Ben to herself. Jaina stood and picked him up carefully, holding him slightly awkwardly for a moment, but then relaxing.

She easily returned his curious stare and reached out to him through the force. He reached back almost instinctively and his mental strength sent her gaze flicking back to Mara. "He's incredibly powerful," she said softly, "Like Anakin," she added.

Jaina kissed Ben on the forehead and handed him back to his mother. At such a young age, Ben would be very sensitive to the emotions around him and Jaina didn't want him to feel her incredible sadness. She could barely handle it herself.

Mara, sensing Jaina's swift change of mood, reached a hand out to her niece's shoulder, "Jaina," she said quietly. She looked up at Mara, her eyes wild, filled with almost panic. She couldn't take anymore sympathy or pity, especially not from Mara. "Come get some breakfast," was all Mara said and Jaina nodded gratefully.

Mara busied herself in the kitchen, looking for fruit and milk for Ben and something that she couldn't burn for Jaina. "Was the couch comfy?" Mara asked not upset in the slightest that Jaina had commandeered her couch for the night.

Jaina shrugged with slight unease, "I was assigned to share quarters with some of the trainees. Most of the started at the Academy after I left there and to most of them I'm a Jedi Knight, not of them. I made most of them uneasy and several of them were actually scared of me." She paused and the said harshly with more anger and whine than she had intended to put into her voice, "I wish Uncle Luke had never named the Sword of the Jedi," she snapped. "Why did he do it Mara?"

"Because he had to, Jaina" she said quietly, forcing Jaina to calm down and listen. "It had to be one of you three." She sighed, "Even if Anakin had lived, it still would have been you." She looked very serious, "Luke's been having visions that he won't share with me, but I know it had to be you. You don't have a choice in the matter."

For a moment, Mara actually thought, Jaina was going to really whine about what she had said, but then she answered and proved that she had been the right choice.

"I know," Jaina said, with none of her former anger, only a sense of weighty, overwhelming responsibility that she couldn't escape.

With another sudden change of mood, Jaina plucked her food off of the heating unit, sparing it from a blackened end at the last moment. She shot a grin at Mara and said with teasing formality, "Your teachings have failed again, Master."

Mara groaned, but with little real dread. Jaina's mood had improved and that was good. Besides she was more than used to the fact that Jaina was not the perfectly behaved apprentice. The number of times she had been woken in the early hours of the morning to hear about Jaina's latest mischief or newest bout of rule breaking..Still she wouldn't have it any other way. She was Mara Jade and she wouldn't have wanted an apprentice who always obeyed the rules.

"What happened this time?"

"Kam caught me kissing in the halls after the curfew."

Mara laughed, "So that's what that smile was for," she said as if that explained it all, which really it did.

Jaina blushed slightly and Mara's grin grew wider, "Just thought I'd warn you. I thought Kam might say something," she mumbled.

Mara exchanged a mischievous grin with her son and handed him a small piece fruit to chew on. "So what exactly is going on between you and Fel these days?" Mara asked bluntly.

Even as she flushed, Jaina smiled. "I'm not sure. We've been spending a lot of time together lately, even outside squadron hours. We even went on an actual date back on Mon Calamari." Her mood darkened with anger as she thought about how that had ended, but didn't say anything. She didn't feel like bringing Callista into this discussion and ruining the whole conversation. Instead, she refocused her thoughts on Jag. It wasn't hard, not hard at all.

"Mara," she said seriously, hoping that this wouldn't sound foolish. There was no one else she would want to have this conversation with. Mara would understand. "Mara, I think I love him."

Mara stopped teasing and straightened up. "So you are serious. I thought so." She shook her head, "Have the two of you talked about this Jaina? I'm not trying to discourage you from this. I actually think Jag is good for you, but you have to admit, if you and Jag are serious there are several fairly large complications."

Jaina crossed her arms in front of her chest for a moment, and Mara thought she was going to react defensively. Instead, she looked up to meet Mara's eyes, "I know," she replied seriously, "I've thought about it." She smiled, "But it's worth it. Besides Mome and Dad, and you and Uncle Luke always taught me to never quit or give up. Why start now?"

Mara smiled. For a moment, Jaina had sounded older almost like Leia. That last statement was more like the Jaina she knew. "Good," she said, "I really do think you and Jag would make a good couple."

Jaina smiled, "Thanks." She looked over at Ben, who had started babbling, tired of not having people pay attention to him. Jaina smirked, "Just think about when Ben's a teenager. He'll probably have half of the girls in the galaxy chasing after him."

Mara grimaced, "You're probably right," she picked him up off of the where he had been sitting, "Of course, he'll probably be like his father and totally oblivious."

Jaina laughed and started to reply, but was interrupted as the chime announcing people outside of Mara's quarters rang. Jaina thought Mara was going to growl at the intrusion. "Here," she said handing Ben to Jaina. "Hold him for a moment, for me. I'll go see what this is about.

She followed Mara out, but stopped out of sight of whoever was demanding Mara's attention.

"Master Jade," asked a voice Jaina didn't recognize, "Lady Callista sent me to ask if you knew where Jedi Solo was and to tell you," the owner of the young voice stumbled over the words, clearly not wanting to tell, Mara Jade Skywalker anything even if they were just relaying a message, "that you and Jedi Solo were expected at her morning classes."

Without even reaching out to the force, Jaina felt Mara's wave of anger and the child's burst of apprehension. She debated on whether or not to step out and let the trainee see her, but in the end, stepped out anyway. "Thank you for relaying that," she said casually while Mara seethed. She handed Ben back to his mother, hoping that holding him would calm her down.

She checked her chrono quickly to see what the child would normally be doing now. "Why don't you head back to the mess, you can probably catch another quick snack before classes start."

She could almost see his sigh of relief, "Thanks," he said quickly.

Jaina watched as he started to dart away and then slowed back to a walk as he seemed to remember all of those lectures on Jedi calm.

\- -

Jaina didn't even try to hold back her scowl of anger any longer once he was gone. She slammed the palm of her hand into the control that shut the door. "What in the Sith does she think she's doing, trying to check up on me," she exploded, her previous pretense of a good mood gone with their only observer. "I'm here as part of the military and not a Jedi. She doesn't have any authority to order me around."

"Jaina," Mara snapped, her tone of voice all that was necessary to break Jaina's tirade. She could see Jaina struggling to push her fury away, but she nodded nevertheless to let her know that she was okay. "Callista technically can't tell us what to do, but it would be good if we could learn what she's teaching. Also," she added, moving around the room, gathering up the things Ben would need, "I want to keep an eye on her."

Jaina nodded and looked around. She grabbed her blaster and lightsaber off of a high shelf where she had laid them the night before. "I want to check on my squadron. I'll see you there."

Mara nodded and watched as Jaina started towards the door, "Jaina," she said sharply as her niece started to step out. She paused in the doorway. "I know Callista is an annoyance, but be careful. Don't make the mistake of underestimating her."

Jaina nodded and slipped out. Quickly she stepped out checked on all of her pilots except for Jag. Most of them had ended up relaxing or spending more time flying simulations. It was nothing she needed to worry about for the moment. She saved Jag for last.

Like most pilots he tended to catch sleep whenever he could, but when he knew he could sleep on a regular basis, he often kept earlier hours than most pilots. So she didn't mind knocking on the door to his quarters at that early hour. He would usually have already been awake.

She wasn't expecting him to open the door with bleary, half-closed eyes and tousled hair. "Jaina," he mumbled sleepily, "Are we going up?" he asked automatically. It was every pilot's worst fear, to miss the alarm calling them to their post.

"No," she reassured him hastily, "I just wanted to see you before I headed to class." Suddenly Jaina felt fourteen again, like she was going to ask Zekk to help her with some mechanical problem after class. It wasn't a mental comparison that she relished. This was different, special. "I though I could show you more of the Academy later, while you could actually see if. You could see the more normal side of the Jedi. That is if you're interested," she added hastily.

Jag smiled slightly and she relaxed. "Yeah," he said quietly, 'that would be interesting."

She could see the exhaustion in his eyes so when he leaned forward and kissed her briefly pulling away after only a moment, she wasn't offended. "I'll be back later," she added somewhat unnecessarily before she turned away. The memory of even that brief conversation with Jag and their brief kiss was enough to distract Jaina, at least temporarily from the upcoming class.

She noticed all of the young Jedi trainees lined up in the hallway outside the door. Apparently it still wasn't cool to be in the classroom before the exact moment that class started. Jaina considered joining them for a moment. Her Jag induced moment of distraction not withstanding, she still wasn't enthusiastic about this. In the end she discarded that thought, knowing that most of the kids would be uncomfortable with her presence and walked in. She surveyed the room and her mood improved slightly when she saw that only Tionne and not Callista was there, yet.

Her smile grew as she walked towards Tionne. She stopped a few feet away from the lyrical Jedi Master and bowed respectfully. "Master Tionne," she said calmly.

The Jedi Master best known for her patience looked at her former student fondly and then stepped forward and hugged her. "Jaina," she returned the greeting, "It's good to have you back here."

Jaina smiled. Mara might have been her Jedi Master, but Tionne had taught the basics of the force to most of the new students and Jaina had always been fond of her. "Even if I am one of your mischief making former students?"

Tionne laughed and her eyes took on a knowing look. "Oh, yes, Kam told me about last night's incident."

Jaina was saved from having to respond as Callista swept in. She smiled brightly at Jaina and Tionne as the kids trailed in behind her. Jaina used the confusion of the rush for seats, to slink to the back of the room where she would be the least noticeable and leaned against the wall. She watched Callista's movements carefully and opened herself to the force. The concentration of all of the force sensitives in the room had it's own unique effect on the force.

Jaina sensed Mara come in at the same time, she saw her enter. Mara joined her niece against the wall.

"Anything I should know about?"

Jaina shook her head. "They haven't started, yet." They grew silent as Callista cleared her throat and the trainees turned their attention to their newest teacher. "Hello, my name is Lady Callista. I have an ability to sense the Yuuzhan Vong through the force and I'm going to show you how to do the same thing."

Jaina tried to stifle the urge to roll her eyes. At this rate, this lesson was going to last forever. She had forgotten how dull classes could be. Callista began with several lectures on the philosophy of the force and how what she had done was possible. It was all a matter of perspective, a different point of view and all of that. By the end of the class Callista seemed to have conveyed the theory of what she had concluded about her unusual talent and for the moment, somewhat appeased Mara. There was nothing in this class so far that could be of any danger, unless of course, mind numbing boredom was counted. A riveting speaker Callista was not!

Jaina lingered in the back for a moment with Mara, as she waited for Callista to walk out. She had been thinking during class about when they would attempt to turn this theory into practice. Obviously they would need something of Vong origin to practice with, but a real Vong warrior was out of the question.

They were too dangerous and it wouldn't be practical to keep one secured on Shelter. In fact, it would be a liability if the warrior ever managed to escape. He could bring the entire Vong fleet directly to the Jedi children. She couldn't even really think of any Vong object that she was familiar with that didn't hold some element of danger. She wanted to know what Callista had planned.

As the woman in question walked towards them, smiling cheerfully, Jaina stepped forward before Callista could steer the conversation in her own direction. "Callista," she said with as much neutrality as she could manage. It was had after everything the woman had said and done to her to be polite. "You'll need to use some Vong artifact for the trainess to try to sense. Have you thought about what you'll use?"

Callista shot Jaina an almost patronizing smile and the younger Jedi had to resist the temptation to throw up, simply on principle. "Of course, Jaina. I mentioned it to Luke before I left. He assured me that he would try to have the Jedi or someone else to find something we can use."

Jaina couldn't resist glancing discreetly over at Mara as this was said and found as she had half expected, Mara looking darkly at Callista. "Jain and I and whoever else I feel necessary will have to check whatever it is over first, Callista," Mara stated firmly. "My first priority is the safety of the children.'

Callista seemed to falter for a split second, but then said sweetly. "Whatever you think best, Master Jade. I wouldn't think of disturbing anything you wanted as far as security goes." She smiled easily, but anyone could see the tine of a poisonous glare in her eyes. "I didn't even think of checking them, I just assumed that if Luke thought they were safe..."She trailed off, not out of nervousness or hesitation, but confident that she had dropped al of the proper allusions to eat away at Mara.

Jaina for her part felt like taking a large step back from the confrontation. What Callista was doing, attempting to challenge Mara for Luke's affections, was not only impossible, but also very likely to explode in her face. In some ways the planet vaporizing powers were nothing compared to the temper of Mara Jade Skywalker when she or her family were being threatened. Jaina was surprised when Mara's reply came back in a cool steady voice, not even bothering to take Callista's obvious bait.

"I'm sure Luke wouldn't mind me taking a second look, especially when it's the safety of the next generation of the Jedi at stake." Mara's chin rose in a defiant challenge, daring Callisat to counter that. The escalating conversation was stopped easily, by Tionne's approach. The serene and well respected Jedi teacher drew Callista away, ending the scene before it could grow into a true confrontation.

\- -

Jagged Fel paced the floor in his quarters irritably. He had stayed up late with Jaina, the night before, walking the darkened halls with her and stealing a few kisses here and there. After his first teasing question and the priceless look on Jaina's face, he had continued to tease her until Jaina had been halfway between flustered, shocked and furious. Of course, that had forced him to silence her with another kiss not that either of them really minded. They hadn't been caught or been interrupted that time and it had ended up being the early hours of the morning before he had walked Jaina back to her temporary quarters. When he had gotten back to his own quarters and fallen in to his bunk, he had been too caught up in a state of Jaina fog to fall immediately asleep.

That was why he had still been sleeping when Jaina had knocked on his door earlier that day. It was nice though, he mused, to fall asleep thinking about Jaina and then be woken up by her the next morning. He hadn't bother to attempt falling back to sleep after she left and instead, he had flicked on his waiting messages as he walked about his temporary quarters, taking his time getting ready for the day. The first two messages were from his sisters. As usual Wyn was happy and eager to talk to him, although he couldn't immediately respond. There was something different in her eyes though, it was a sadness that Jag hated to see in the eyes of his favorite sister.

The next message was from his other sister Cem. Cem was much more like him than Wyn. She was as serious as Wyn was carefree and this time her worry for Jag showed clearly through.

"Things are getting rough here at home, Jagged," she said seriously. "All of the classes, especially the military ones are getting pushed into advanced stages ahead of time." She shook her head, "Something's going on Jag, I don't know what it is, but you need to come home." She sighed, "As much as I hate to say this and as much as Dad would never admit it. He needs you to come home, Mom, too. They're trying to shield Wyn from this as much as they can but you know they really can't." She sighed again and glanced behind her as if checking for eavesdroppers. "Listen Jag, I don't know why you've been staying with the Galactic Alliance, but I trust that you have a good reason, but you have to come how now. There are things I can't tell you in a holomessage, you know that." She smiled at him without any real happiness, "Take care of yourself Jagged, and please..come home soon."

He stopped his last message from playing and sat down abruptly on his bunk. He and Cem were the two oldest of the remaining three Fel children. They loved one another as siblings did, but they had never been especially close. Cem had always been closer to Davin and on occasion Cherith. If she was almost begging him for something like this, then clearly something was wrong. Everything she had said pointed to that.

It was a plea he wouldn't ignore, but he would consider his options rationally first before he made any hurried decisions. He had duties to the Galactic Alliance as well. The Chiss command had slowly over the months been sending him more and more forceful request that had turned into harsher and harsher orders to return home. Normally Jag wouldn't have ignored his orders, but at those moments he hadn't wanted to leave Jaina.

There were other things to consider now, though. He knew that if he delayed returning to the folds of the Chiss too much longer he would be branded an outcast, a traitor to the empire that had taken him in and raised him as one of its own. Still he wasn't certain that if he returned to his home now, if he would ever see Jaina again and that, that alone, was what was making his decision so diffucult.

A click drew him out of his thoughts as the pause on his holoplayer ended after a preset amount of time and automatically began to play again. His father's deep harsh voice cut through the air and even his hollow, miniaturized image seemed to dominate the room.

"Colonel Fel, I'm going to pretend for the moment that I actually believe that you haven't received all the messages I've been sending you for weeks now. I've issued you orders and given you warnings, all of which you've ignored until now. But listen to this. Come. Home. Now." The older man glared darkly towards his son. "This is you final warning, Jagged and I'm speaking now as your commanding officer not your father. Ignore this and face the consequences." For the first time in the one sided conversation he faltered and seemed to lose some of his commanding presence. "Jagged think about the consequences here. You know that if you continue to ignore your orders, you will no longer be welcome in Chiss space." He let the words hang there and for the first time in his life, Jag heard his father plead. "Please think about your mother, Jag. She's already lost two children. Don't do this to her again. Obey your orders and come home, son. We need you here, now."

There was a click as the machine flicked off and then the room was filled with deafening silence. He rose and flicked the holoplayer off. His sister's message had started him thinking and his father's had only confirmed the seriousness of the situation. He would have to do something about this. He needed to make a decision and soon.

\- -

Callista smiled. It was a real smile, not the fake one that she had been showing Tionne the day before. Her plan was going well. That would please her Masters. Just as she had predicted, the Jedi students already liked her and trusted her as a teacher. It was one fatal flaw in Luke's teaching. He taught his students to place absolute faith in their teachers ability to keep them safe and protected. It was that very trait that was making things so much easier for her now. Having their trust would make everything else easier and it would give her a plausible excuse to spend more time around the area where the young students, including Ben Skywalker would be. It would only be a matter of time now before she succeeded and received her reward from her Vong Masters.


	12. Dark-Haired, Green-Eyed Men

Acceleration pressed Jagged Fel back into his seat as he pulled his clawcraft out of a tight roll that would have knocked him unconscious if he had been in an x-wing. He didn't even allow himself a grunt of acknowledgement at a maneuver well executed, before he pushed his clawcraft into another tight maneuver. Halfway through a flat spin, he cut his engines and let his fighter drift through space.

From his perspective, Shelter hung below him. He had managed for the past day in a half to avoid Jaina. It hadn't been an easy feat. Even after that short period of time he missed her greatly, but he had wanted to put some distance between them for the moment. He needed space to think. Not that Jaina would invade his privacy, if she knew that was what he wanted. He just hadn't confided the nature of his recent messages to her, yet. He needed to make his decision first.

"Twin Two, this is Control. Stand by for Twin Leader." A generic voice commanded him on his chosen frequency.

He only waited a moment before Jaina's voice filled his cockpit. "Jag, Twin Three and myself are scrambling as we speak. We have a ship with an injured Jedi coming in and standard procedure calls for an escort in. We'll be there in less than two minutes."

Jag double clicked his comm acknowledgement, his own worries forgotten for the moment. "Are we expecting any trouble," he asked all business a moment later. It was always best to be fully prepared.

Jaina responded a moment later, "We're not sure. Stay alert and start scanning for Vong just in case." Her voice was tense and guarded and Jag suspected that something more than what had said to him was going on. Still the fact that Jaina hadn't scrambled the rest of Twin Suns was a good sign.

"As you wish, Great One," he answered automatically and flipped on his scanners looking for the distinctive signature of the Yuuzhan Vong. He looked up as he saw the blips that represented Jaina's and Kyp's x-wings approaching him and stared out of his cockpit at them.

They settled into position on either side of him in silence. After a moment, Jaina said quietly, "They revert to realspace in less than five minutes."

"Who is it," Jag asked a moment later, switching to a private channel for the conversation. "Is it anyone I know?"

Her reply was short. "It's Zekk. You might have met him on Hapes." Her words were loaded with worry that only a few people close to Jaina could have heard.

"Were you two close," Jag asked carefully after a moment. He knew that most of the Jedi that had gone on the Myrk mission had been close friends, but Jaina and Zekk's behavior towards one another on Hapes, what little of it he had seen, had been cold and distant.

Her reply when it came back was neutral. "Zekk and I were close friends growing up on Coruscant. The only person closer to me back then was Jacen. Thing changed during my first year n Yavin four, but we were after that until the war started. Since then we've pretty much found ourselves on the opposite side of most issues." She sighed, "I still want to be okay, though."

Jag smiled content that in the privacy of his cockpit it wouldn't ruin his grim reputation "I never doubted that for a minute, Oh Great Leader."

"Good," she said quickly, and then added as an after though, "You really have been spending too much time with Wes." She stopped abruptly as a freighter suddenly appeared in front of them.

"This is it. Kyp, ask them for the confirmation codes. Jag, drop into escort position behind them, but stay alert until Kyp get their confirmation. I'll lead them in."

Jag felt the protest start to fly out of his mouth. If these being weren't who they said they were, then Jaina, in front of them would be their best target. He had learned to bite back his own doubts about Jaina as a leader, though, when he realized that she was just as competent as he was. He didn't really relax, though, until Kyp had received the codes and then he loosened his grip on his controls and removed his finger from the firing stud.

With ease he followed the flight path that Jaina was leading them on. As they begin to settle down towards Shelter he began to flip off his non- essential systems, preparing for shut down. His hands froze though, when he saw the sensor readings that he was only now noticing. The results weren't clear yet, but if it revealed what he suspected then they were in serious trouble. He put his clawcraft down without conscious effort and reached to activate the comm. link on his collar as he yanked his helmet off and climbed impatiently out of his cockpit.

"Jaina," he called urgently into his comm. link, "I think we may have a problem." Jag cursed as she didn't respond. Her comm. link must have been turned off. He started towards the freighter where he knew she would be waiting for Zekk.

The string of explicative he let off as he tried to push his way through the rapidly formed crowd were words he had learned from Jaina, not picked up at the Chiss Academy.

Jag rarely let his impatience get the better of him, but this was important. Lives could be at stake here. He was desperate enough that he was about to start yelling her name, just to get her attention, wherever she was.

"Hello, Colonel," a calm voice interrupted his semi-panic. A small, but strong hand touched his shoulder and turned him to face her. "Is something the matter, Colonel Fel," Mara Jade Skywalker asked as she took in his appearance.

Jag took a deep breath, but only hesitated a second. He didn't personal know Mara that well, but he did know that she was Jaina's aunt and that Jaina trusted her. For the moment that was all he needed. Within a matter of seconds he had told Mara everything he knew.

\- -

Moments earlier

Jaina struggled to keep her flight speed to the maximum safe speed for this landing. Zekk was injured and aboard that ship. Her mind was screaming at her that every second of delay weakened her friend more. Despite she and Zekk's recent differences, the thought of loosing another old friend was unbearable and devastating. She would not allow it. Even if she had to help him into a healing trance herself!

The moment her x-wing touched the ground, she was running towards the ship that held Zekk. She froze for a second as she felt a whisper of warning brush her, begging for her attention. She ignored it though, dismissing it and tightened her mental shields, returning to her recent mission.

She stopped running and skidded to a halt as she found the medics pushing Zekk out on a repulsorsled. She fell into step with them quickly and asked, "Will he be okay?"

She reached out to the force, even as she asked, to make her own assessment of his physical condition. He was severely injured. He had extensive external injuries, a few broken bones and some internal bleeding. What worried her more and caused her to look up at the medics in surprise was the rapid, but unexplainable, at least with her rudimentary medical knowledge, degeneration of some of his cells.

Overriding her earlier question, she demanded, "What's the matter with him?"

The man, a Galactic Alliance med tech, didn't even waste the time it would have taken to look up at her. "You're not family or a healer. I can't tell you."

"He's an orphan, he has no family," Jaina exploded as they shoved their way through the crowd of people. "I'm his friend. Tell me what's going on." She was incredibly close to using the force to make the man tell her, when he finally blurted out a response.

"We don't know. We've never seen anything like this. That's why we're bringing him to Master Cilghal."

Jaina's step faltered for a moment. This was not good news. She took a quick step back up to the side of Zekk's repulsorsled. Silently, quickly, she guided them to where Cilghal was waiting. She stood back and watched as the renowned Jedi Healer began to calmly call out orders to the various medical personnel, instructing them on how she wanted his more mundane injuries taken care of as she held her hands inches over his body and used the force to discover what was wrong.

Jaina could see the tension in the Mon Cal's face as she concentrated on her patient. Abruptly her eyes snapped open and she used one of her flippers to activate her comm. link. In a calmer and less commanding voice than she had used before she said, "Tekli, please come assist me." She switched it off and waved Jaina forward, without sparing the young Jedi a backwards glance. "I will need you assistance as well, Jaina."

She looked at her appraisingly, seeing the young child who had help defend her uncle from jungle beasts driven by Sith Lord Exar Kun as much as the young Jedi Knight that Luke Skywalker had named the Sword of the Jedi. Yes, Jaina's strength both of the force and of her own will power would be necessary for this task.

Tekli joined them and following Cilghal's brief instructions worked together in tandem, using the force to heal Zekk. The effort they were expending and their total concentration created a timeless effect. The small part of Jaina's brain still available for trivialities didn't know whether they had been working on him for days, hours or minutes. She jerked back to an awareness of her surroundings as a hand gripped her shoulder tightly.

After a wildly disoriented moment, she whirled around to find Mara staring at her, looking tense and serious. The words that poured out of Mara hit her brain like a plasma missile and dumped ice into her veins. "Fel's sensor scans show Vong here, on Shelter."


	13. Of Every Major Fight Scene In Any Star Wars Movie

Jaina's gaze and her attention, which had both been divided between Mara and Zekk, immediately refocused her full attention on what Mara was saying. "Where," she demanded, reacting instinctively, her hand already dropping down to her lightsaber.

Mara shook her head. "We don't know. So far Fel only picked up a few signs of them. We're going to have to isolate the children in a secure area and search for them."

"My pilots won't be able to sense the Vong in ooglith masquers, but they can help protect the children."

"Excellent," Mara added tightly as the two of them began jogging down corridors.

"Where's Ben," Jaina asked wanting to reassure herself about her cousin's safety.

"He's with Kam," Mara said quickly. "I commed Kam right after Fel told me. He's fine," she added firmly.

Jaina nodded, deciding even as she did that it was time for a subject change. She knew how much Mara hated not being there to protect Ben herself. "What about Callista?" She asked again, hating what she was saying even as the words flew out of her mouth. "If she can sense the Vong, she can take us right to them"

Mara hesitated for a split moment weighing the decision in her mind in seconds. Jaina knew exactly what she was thinking. Callista's trustworthiness was still in question, but if she could help them to ensure the safety of the children.. Well it was Mara's decision.

Mara looked directly into Jaina's eyes for a fraction of a heartbeat and then nodded, "Call her. Tell her to meet us at the entrance to the coreward sector. That's where Fel saw those readings. He and Kyp are meeting us there, too."

Jaina nodded and pulled out her comm. link. After two unsuccessful attempts to reach Callista, she let out a string of Huttese curses and then looked over at Mara. "Do you want me to try to find her," Jaina asked quickly, trying to stifle her growing frustrations. Delays like this were almost always costly. Ylesia had proven that, giving her a lesson that she wouldn't soon forget.

"No," Mara said quickly, "We'll just have to do this ourselves." She opened her mouth to continue speaking, but stopped as Jaina raised a hand in a sharp gesture for silence. Mara immediately stopped speaking and then heard the hurried footsteps that had alerted Jaina. Master and Knight both relaxed when they realized that the approaching people could be felt through the force.

Jaina pushed away from the wall she had been standing against and gestured quickly to the two hurried students. "What are you two doing," she snapped at Valin and Syal as she pulled them towards where she and Mara had been standing. "You two were supposed to be with Kam and the rest of the trainees."

Valin opened his mouth to reply, when Mara shot a silencing glare towards him. Now wasn't the time to here his reasons, however, good or bad they turned out to be.

"We have to get them back to Kam," she stated.

Jaina resisted the urge to say more words that would shock even these particular children, escorting them back would create even more delays. "I'll take them," Jaina said, hating to walk away from a fight, but knowing that it would be easier for her to do this than Mara. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to see Ben now, when there was so much more that she needed to focus on. "Kyp and Jag will be here in a minute. I'll catch up with you."

Mara thought clearly reluctant, nodded. Jaina turned to leave, but stopped quickly as Mar grabbed her wrist. "Jaina," she said seriously, "Be careful."

The warning was unlike Mara, but then again, at the moment she had more to lose than ever before. "I will," Jaina agreed quickly and hoped she wasn't lying. Then with Valin and Syal on her heels started racing through the corridors. She wove through them with ease, only slowing down once to pick Syal up piggy back style. The girl was heavy, but it was easier for Jaina's force enhanced muscles to carry her then it was for Syal to keep up with her demanding pace.

The moment she turned them over to a waiting Tionne, she was once again running through the corridors. This time though, she casually carried her blaster in her left fist and her unignited lightsaber in the other. She was almost a blur of energy as she flowed through rooms, searching each of them carefully as she passed through, making her way to where she could sense Mara.

Even as she searched visually she reached out to the force in an attempt to find the Vong through the force as Callista had been teaching them. She was so caught up in her search efforts, her attempts to sense the Vong, and hundreds of other possible tactical contingencies racing through her head, that she almost missed the whisper of displaced air as an amphistaff crashed down towards her head. Being caught almost off balance, and slightly startled, the only way for Jaina to avoid the blow was to crumple in an undignified heap on the floor. The moment she hit the deck, she rolled away from where she had landed, but not fast enough to avoid the line of fire that sliced down her arm and across her back.

Jaina bit back an exclamation of pain and sent a clumsy force shove out towards her attacker. She couldn't feel them through the force, but the shove provided her with enough of a reprieve to roll to her fee, igniting her lightsaber and bringing it up into guard position, just it time to catch the topaz blade crashing down at her.

She lashed out towards her attacker, launching a foot towards her enemy's midsection and using the force to turn her kick into a jump as the amphistaff whipped towards her other leg. The deadly chaos of arms, legs, and weaponry that resulted, ceased seconds later as the two women warily got to their feet on separate sides of the room.

Jaina had suspected almost from the beginning of the fight, who her attacker was. Now she knew for sure. "Callista," she snapped at the women.

The former Jedi Knight didn't respond and Jaina bided her time. Callista's initial attack had caught her off guard. She was prepared now, but she still had to be careful. Callista had more weapons than she did for the moment. Her blaster had been knocked away in the scuffle and Callista was neither stupid nor untrained. She was dangerous.

"I warned you," Callista stated boldly, "Your talents are wasted here with these people. You could be so much more. My Masters could show you things you can't even imagine." Callista started to circle her and Jaina let her.

She lazily drew her lightsaber through the air, deliberately slowing it down for Callista's benefit. Jaina ignored Callista's taunt. Instead she watched the other woman carefully but also let a disbelieving expression show on her face. "Was it worth so much to you, that loosing your powers made you want to destroy the Jedi. That's what the Vong want you know, not whatever they promised you." She smirked darkly, "And just know Callista that if you make it out of here alive, you won't be so lucky with the Vong. I can guarantee that."

Callista's face darkened for a moment, and Jaina thought her verbal jag had its target. Then Callista laughed, not a laugh of humor, but of pure darkness. Immediately, Jaina felt Callista's presence blossoming through the force. Her essence was pure dark power, rage. Its magnitude surprised even Jaina. She blinked only for a split second, but that was all Callista had been waiting for. The two women met in a slashing fury of deadly blades. Jaina worked furiously to keep Callista's weapons at bay. She was successful until Callista managed to slam a kick into her already injured back, sending her falling to the floor once more.

This time though Jaina managed to transform the fall into a roll. As she rose swiftly back to her feet this time, a vibroblade appeared in her hands, so fast that Callista didn't even see it until it was buried in her shoulder.

Callista let out a shriek of pain and fury, dropping the amphistaff, but letting of a burst of force lightening in retaliation. Jaina almost laughed. She dispelled it with ease. Kyp had shown her that trick ages ago. She resisted the temptation to throw some back at her and charge towards her, intent on taking advantage of Callista's injury.

She smirked as Callista's next burst of force lightening missed her entirely and then jerked around in horror as her danger sense blared. Danger not for her, but for Jag. She watched as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. She saw the force lightening cascading towards Jag, but could do nothing to stop it. She tried to throw herself in front of him, but knew as she dove towards it that she wouldn't make it in time. She slammed into the floor as everything returned to its normal speed and Jag's screams of pain echoed throughout the large room.

For a moment, it was as if Callista had disappeared from the room. Without even making a conscious decision, Jaina was running to his side. "Jag," she demanded, shocked at the real fear she heard in her own voice.

He groaned and forced his own eyes open. Jaina was glad she knew that force lightening often affected people's nervous systems. Opening his eyes had probably been an incredible act of will on his part. Quickly she reached for her comm. link with one, using her other to gently stroke his forehead trying to reduce the pain he was feeling and begin the healing process even as she scanned the room for wherever Callista had disappeared to.

"Jade Skywalker," Mara's response was almost immediate. "Where are you, Jaina? Did Fel find you?"

Jaina skipped Mara's questions and filled her in on the necessities of the situation. "Callista attacked me," she blurted out quickly, "I'm in one of the large lecture areas and Jag's been hurt. Get up here now." She was waiting for Mara's response, when she saw Jag's eyes widen as he looked behind her. Her danger sense started screaming at the exact same moment. Jaina swung around, bringing her lightsaber up in front of her as she did so.

This time she did manage to catch several pieces of the force lightening Callista threw at them and dispelled the rest. This was enough. Callista shouldn't even have been allowed to do as much as she had. Jaina rushed forward towards Callista, careful to keep herself between Jag and Callista, just in case she decided to take another shot at him.

Callista laughed as Jaina charged, "I was right you know, Jaina," she gloated. "I told you he was worthless, beneath your notice. He can't even help you, much less protect you." She punctuated her comment with a lightsaber feint and then a high kick towards Jaina's head.

Jaina ignored the feint, caught Callista's leg and used the force as well as her own strength to slam Callista to the floor. That was the moment that Callista chose to use the force to begin ripping object off of the walls and send them flying towards Jaina and Jag. For a moment, Jaina was caught in the center of a storm of objects, her lightsaber flashing around her to deflect object after object. At the same time she used the force to push objects away from Jag. A sudden flurry of small objects almost distracted her as some of them managed to get through her guard and she almost missed the large chunk of durasteel that Callista was drawing down on top of Jag.

At the last moment, with it mere inches above Jag, Jaina managed to stop it, only to find Callista exerting more of her dark power on the object.

Tired as she was, Jaina still managed to begin pushing the durasteel away from Jag. Using, if nothing else, her sheer desperation to keep it from falling, she would not allow the man she loved to be crushed if there was any way she could prevent it. It was a constant struggle, a battle of wills. Evil Callista might be, but that didn't make any less powerful.

Jaina felt a surge of strength rush through her. It only took her a moment, to identify Mara as the source. She couldn't spare any concentration to send her aunt her thanks at the moment, but she would remember it later. For a second she wandered, what was taking them so long to get there and then realized that less than five minutes had passed, not nearly enough time for Mara and Kyp to get there.

She used the burst of energy that she had been given to double the amount of energy she was focusing on the durasteel. The sudden change in pressure managed to startle Callista just enough that she lost concentration, sending the durasteel slamming into her.

Jaina didn't even have time to be relieved before the whole station rocked under her feet. She heard the sound of a distant explosion even as she flew through the air. As she crashed into the unforgiving wall, she barely had time to register that the ceiling was collapsing and try to raise a protective force shield around both she and Jag before everything went dark.


	14. What Kyp And Mara Are Up To.

Mara Jade Skywalker raced down the corridor side by side with Kyp Durron. Once Fel had found Kyp and updated him on the situation, the men had decided to split up, Jag going to find Jaina and Kyp providing back up for Mara. Kyp had bound her carefully investigating the suspected area, moments before both of them had felt a powerful disturbance in the force.

Both of them had immediately recognized the disturbance for what it was: the use of the Dark Side. In total agreement for once, they both began moving quickly towards the disturbance.

"We didn't have enough problems with the Vong, now we have Dark Jedi," he laughed sarcastically, "and here I thought this was supposed to be a vacation."

Despite the seriousness and danger of the situation, Mara spared him a brief glance. "Getting soft in your old age, Durron?"

"Not a chance, Jade," he grunted a response as they easily rounded a corner. In front of them the corridor split into two separate directions. They barely managed to skid to a halt in time to avoid slamming into the wall in front of them.

Kyp glanced both ways and then looked over at Mara. He wasn't as familiar with the station's layout as she was and at the moment, they couldn't afford to lose anymore time.

Mara didn't hesitate, even for a second. "This way," she pointed and once again Kyp easily fell in step with her. Mara was just about to use the force to examine the disturbance to get at least an idea of who was involved-although she already had her suspicions-when her comm. like began beeping insistently.

"Jaina," Mara said, knowing instantly who was calling her. Kyp was still right beside her but now he was watching her expression and his attention was focused intently on listening to Mara's very brief half of the conversation. To his surprise Mara suddenly froze and anger seemed to radiate from her. Even though Kyp knew her rage wasn't directed at him, he took an almost involuntary step back. Not even, he wanted to cross a furious Mara Jade Skwalker.

Suddenly Mara cursed and he could see her resist the temptation to throw her comm. link across the room. It would be more gratifying, but she would still need it later.

"Let's go, Durron," Mara snapped, "They're in one of the lecture halls. That burst of Dark side energy we felt earlier was Callista." She practically spat the name. Kyp didn't think he had even heard her speak about the emperor with such undisguised hate. "Jaina needs help. Fel did find her," Mara was silent for a moment as they came to the stairwell that would lead them down to the lower levels.

Without even hesitating, Mara launched herself over the railing, just managing to stop her fall three floors down. Kyp was right behind her, as she caught hold of the railing in a one handed grip. Without so much as a glance at the several hundred meters of open air below her, Mara flipped over the rail and offered Kyp her hand.

"Was Jaina hurt?" He asked, not caring if his image of the cocky Jedi master was ruined by his sincere question.

Mara shook her head in response as she checked to make sure that none of her personal arsenal had been lost in the leap. Drawing her lightsaber, she added, "No, but she did say that Jag was injured."

For a moment, Kyp could have sworn that Mara actually grimaced, "Force lightening."

"Sith," it was Kyp's turn to curse. Force lightening was not something to be taken lightly and could easily kill a person, especially someone like Jag who wasn't sensitive to the force. Hearing what Jaina was facing made Kyp run just a little bit faster. He glanced over at his companion and noted the look of deep concentration she was wearing. He was about to ask her what she sense when he felt a blast wave hit him. The all too familiar sound of an explosion filled his ears as he and Mara went flying through the air.

A moment later, Kyp winced as her gingerly raised himself up, off of the floor. Immediately he began scanning his surroundings for any immediate danger. Warily with his ignited lightsaber held in one hand, in front of him, he reached down to Mara.

A quick glance showed him that Mara seemed to have been thrown with more force than he had been. "All right, Jade," he asked casually knowing that she wouldn't appreciated even that ever so small gesture of concern.

She accepted his hand without animosity, but ignored his question. "The explosion was that way," she said with a gesture towards its general direction.

Kyp nodded, but didn't make the connection until he saw the brief expression of panic and fear flicker across Mara's face before she controlled her outwards reaction. "The trainees," he snapped, but Mara was already running. Kyp didn't bother to go after her. The Emperor himself, couldn't have stopped Mara at that moment. He grunted and closed his eyes for a brief instant. A frown flickered across his face as he reached for Jaina through the force, only to find her connection to the force muted. He cursed, that usually meant that the person was unconscious and if she had been fighting Callista..

"I should have sithing shot her, no matter what Jaina said," Kyp was running just as fast as Mara.

===============================================================

Pain, horrible crushing pain and wet sticky blood. It oozed down her face and had turned her hair into a wet gory mass. Still despite its severe bleeding it wasn't a truly serious injury. Besides she had bigger problems. Big as in the size of the piece of durasteel that girl, who was playing at being a Jedi had thrown at her. She let that thought and Jaina's image roll through her mind for a minute, her hate growing with every passing second. She felt it swell within her and kept feeding it. Hate was power and hate was what was about to set her free. She felt the power of the Dark Side within her and let her fury and pain flow through her.

The piece of durasteel flew away from her like a feather in a storm and slammed into the far wall with a satisfying clang. She glanced around the room, wiping the blood out of her eyes with one hand. She didn't bother to search for Jaina or Jag, they were of no concern to her for the moment. She smiled coldly and laughed as she tasted the sense of the force in the area. She savored the fear, panic and anger that she felt. It seemed as if her explosion had worked on time after all. Now all she had to do was finish this in time to meet her masters. They would be pleased with her easy success, especially when she handed them young Ben Skywalker and the rest of the future generation of the Jedi.


	15. It Builds, The Tension Does

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shortest. Chapter. Ever. No idea what I was thinking back then, but apologies now.

Mara Jade Skywalker ran. She had been an assassin, an agent of terror and the second-in-command of one of the most powerful smuggling operations in the galaxy, but she was first and foremost a mother. At this moment, the only thing she knew was that her son was in danger. The link between force sensitive mother and child was incredible and Mara was taking every advantage of that. Her son was a toddler; his thoughts were not the clear thoughts of an adult. She could, however, sense his emotions and what she sensed at the moment was fear. She hated that her son was afraid and that made a wave of fury burn within her towards whoever dared to hurt him, but at least his fear told her that he was still alive.

It was a small comfort. She ran towards the site of the explosion with single minded determination. "Soulusar," she snapped into her comm. link, "Kam, answer me. What in the nine Corellian Hells is going on down there?" She paused to let him reply and heard only the pounding of her booted feet on the floor. As she scrambled down the access latter, not even so much as a hiss of static came back to her. Mara pushed back the panic that had been steadily growing since she had heard the explosion. Kam's silence could mean anything, it didn't have to mean that on a station that somehow now boasted both Yuuzhan Vong and Dark Jedi, that Kam was unconscious and unable to answer, or worse, dead and with him most of the trainees protection.

She could feel the explosion now. Its feel hung heavy in the air and the stench of smoke and destruction was thick in the air. Mara slowed to a quick, cautious walk and froze in horror at what she saw in front of her.

===============================================================

It had taken Kyp a matter of mere minutes longer to find Jaina. Even unconscious the young Jedi and pseudo goddess glowed brightly through the force. The sheer amount of destruction and disarray also pointed him towards the scene of Jaina's fight with Callista. Scorch marks dotted the large room and large pieces of machinery crumpled walls or lay fallen and broken in the middle of the room. In the back there was even a large section where the ceiling had completely caved in. Kyp had seen a few duels and even fights to the death in his day, but this was one for the legends.

He could feel the Dark side here. It was an overwhelming aura that filled the air and tainted everything. It was so pervasive that Kyp was forced to wonder for a moment if Jaina had been using the Dark side as well. Its lingering feel also made it harder to determine whether Callista was still there or not. Carefully he began to pick his way through the run of the room, searching for Jaina and Callista simultaneously. It didn't occur to him until he was almost done, where he hadn't searched, where he was now, suddenly almost certain that Jaina was, under the caved in portion of the room.


	16. Wreckage

Mara froze as she quickly took in the site in front of her. This was the room where they had sent all of the trainees, the non-force sensitive children and the pilots and fully trained Jedi that were supposed to protect them. It was now a pile of smoking twisted rubble.

A flicker of movement caught the corner of her eye and she saw a small hand clawing at anything that it could reach, debris sliding away from it as it moved. She heard a small voice call out, with a panicky mixture of concern and fear, "Valin, Myri?"

Immediately Mara was moving quickly, she ran over to the girl's side. She recognized her instantly as Syal Antilles, Wedge's oldest daughter and grasped the girl's hand reassuringly. "It's okay Syal," she said without hesitation, not wasting a moment to consider whether she was lying or not and begin to dig Syal out. She moved away debris quickly until she had created a hole large enough for the girl to crawl out of. The moment she was out, Syal flung her arms around Mara's neck and clung to her tightly.

Mara who was normally not a touchy-feely person let the girl be and even wrapped an arm comfortingly around the shaking girl's slender form, while she thought. This was no place for anyone, much less a child. No one should have to see the carnage that was probably buried under the wreckage, but there was no other place she could go. The safest place that Syal could be for the moment was with Mara and she had to help search for survivors.

"Syal," she said calmly a moment later, forcing herself to be patient. "Do you know what happened?"

Syal shook her head, "No, I was just sitting here with Val and Myri. I was watching one of the holocubes that Mom sent me and then everything just exploded."

Mara nodded, nothing Syal had just told her was really useful, besides confirming what she already know. She struggled to make her voice soothing and not to let her disappointment show. "Okay, Syal, I want to look for your sister and Valin, but I need you to help me."

The girl loosened her grip slightly and seemed to regain some of her composure. She blinked and nodded at Mara. She might not have grown up with quite as many tragedies as Jaina and her brothers, but she was also no stranger to pain and hardship. She would be okay, at least for the moment, her parents had raised her well. "I'm going to try to find them through the force," Mara explained. "They should be somewhere right around here, near where you were. I want you to keep an eye on the rest of the room. If you see anything move or see anyone, let me know."

Given a mission the young girl nodded valiantly. Syal put her back to Mara, surveying the room carefully.

Mara took a deep breath and turned back to the pile of debris, focusing on it. She reached into the forced and hissed involuntarily. This whole area screamed of pain and charged emotions. She forced back a surge of desperation, impatience and all consuming anger as she thought about her son. The image her mind conjured of her son, buried in the rubble, helpless or dead, almost made her lose her concentration and her connection to the force.

With a struggle she forced down her maternal instincts and focused on Valin and Myri. She could rescue these children now. For the moment, she couldn't help Ben, she didn't even know where he was. A moment later she found a response to her tendril of probing force energy. It was a flicker of contact, the response of one force sensitive mind to another. It was an automatic response that would be present even if the other mind was dormant, but it still sent Mara rushing into action. A grim, but triumph smile tugged at her lips and she touched the back of Syal's arm.

"I found Valin." She murmured. She raised one hand in the air and began to lift rubble off of him and shift it carefully away. Moments later she had dug down far enough to see Valin. As she had expected he was unconscious. As she lifted him out, she didn't notice Syal move away from her. Carefully she laid Valin down on a relatively even space and began to check his injuries. From what she could tell he was bleeding from several cuts all over him and he had a decent size gash on his forehead. That was most likely what had knocked him unconscious.

She almost sighed in relief as she finished checking him over. He didn't seem to be badly injured and there was certainly nothing life threatening for him in the short term. "Syal," she called wanting the girl to stay with Valin while she kept looking. It only took her a short second to note the girl's lack of response. She whirled around to look for her, but it wasn't necessary. She heard a sudden shriek, and then she saw Syal's mop of blond hair pop up.

"Mara," the call was frightened and desperate.

Compassion and anger at the girl for walking off warred within Mara. She didn't need Syal getting into more trouble now. Deciding to leave Valin for the moment, she carefully, but quickly made her way over to Syal and saw immediately what had caused her reaction. A man in a grey flightsuit bearing the distinctive crest of Twin Suns Squadron lay obviously dead acting as a protective shield over Myri Antilles.

A hint of her pale golden hair spilled out from under the man's body. Mara touched Syal's shoulder gently. "Go back down to Valin," she said softly. She wasn't sure how badly Myri was hurt or if she was even alive. Syal was barely holding up as it was, being confronted with the death of her sister... Well, Mara would try to spare her everything that she could.

Syal didn't protest, but she did keep her eyes locked on her sister. She didn't ask Mara if Myri was all right. She knew there was no answer, but she did glance over at Mara for just a second. Mara could see the plea in her eyes to simply make everything better and she wished with all of her heart that she could grant that wish. She looked back down at the pilot and drew upon her years of experience as an assassin and hardened her heart against the reminder of mortality in front of her. She pushed the man aside and stripped his ID without sparing him a second glance.

She reached down to Myri and almost sighed in relief as she realized with relief that Myri was still alive. She picked her up with the force, cradling her in her arms at the same time and laid her down next to Valin.

"Will she be okay," Syal asked as soon as Mara was next to her, but she seemed almost hesitant to hear the answer.

Mara didn't respond, instead she reached into the force, searching...searching and then slipped Myri into a healing trance. She nodded at last, "I'm not sure, Syal," she answered honestly, and then focused on Syal. "I'm going to need you to stay here with these two." She thought for a moment and then climbed back over to where they had found Myri and took the pilot's comm. link and blaster. She handed them to Syal a moment later. "I'm going to look for other survivor's," she said finally.

She paused, debating whether to tell Syal the complete truth or not. She decided, "Syal there are both Yuuzhan Vong and Dark Jedi here on Shelter. Callista's the dark Jedi and if you see her or any other Jedi that you don't know, shoot first and ask questions later." She pushed aside a grimace, she hated doing this. "If you see any Vong, hide, only shoot if you think they've already found you."

"Okay," Syal said with a slight quaver, but her grip on the blaster was steady and her hand didn't shake. She was young and untrained, but she was holding up better than some soldiers that Mara had known.

====================================================================

Kyp's first instinct was to begin tearing into the plates of durastell and beams of permafab that trapped Jaina, but he didn't. Speed was necessary at times, but it could also get a person killed. He needed to think rationally and to allow his Jedi training to take over. The force could guide him through this easily.

He closed his eyes and tapped into the force. Kyp didn't seek to control it, rather he let it control him. Moving with absolute confidence, Kyp began moving towards Jaina. Moving metal and broken machinery, with both his hands and the force he worked steadily closer to her with single minded determination. As he got close enough to her to finally see her, his focus almost seemed to slip as his desperation surged. He faltered as he lifted a beam away from her, when he saw her shift slightly and murmur groggily, "Jag?"

"Jaina," he called out, "Wake up, Goddess. Talk to me."

Jaina's eyes flickered and then snapped open. "Kyp," she called urgently, her tone almost a demand. "Kyp, I need help," fear and panicked urgency claimed her voice and Kyp could feel her begin to indiscriminately push at everything trapping her with the force.

"I know Goddess," he said placatingly, trying to keep her calm.

"No, Kyp," already her voice sounded stronger, through sheer strength of will, he suspected. "You have to find Jag," she blurted. "He's hurt."

Kyp frowned, this was not good. Jaina was his priority. He had to get her out first and then he would start looking for Fel, but telling Jaina that was not a good idea. Stalling her he said quickly, "I couldn't find him in the force. Can you tell me where he is?"

Jaina looked at him sharply and Kyp didn't have to read her mind to know what she was thinking. As far as she was concerned for the moment, Jag was injured and missing. If she allowed herself to think that he was dead..

It had been hard enough on her when her brothers had died. Most people had credited him with Jaina's return from the Dark side, but he also knew that it was due in no small part to Jag's presence and his feelings for Jaina. If Jag was gone, truly dead, he didn't want to think about what would happen to Jaina and what she would allow herself to become.

But then Jaina's eyes snapped shut and Kyp could feel her reaching out to the force around them. He grabbed hold of a large piece of durasteel in front of him with both his hands and the force. It was the last thing separating him from Jaina. He lifted and groaned at the weight.

"A hand here, Goddess," he asked quickly. He almost growled as she didn't respond.

A sharp rebuke was on the tip of his tongue as he looked over at her, but it died unspoken as she cried, "Stars, Jag!"

He immediately felt a surge of power as Jaina joined her strength to his in the force. "Kyp, he's under there!"

=================================================================

Callista laughed as she stroked his smooth cheek with a finger. Blood smeared off of her hand and onto the little boy's unmarred skin. He jerked back from her as much as he could with her arm holding him firmly against her and let out another piteous cry. Callista's smile widened as she felt the boy trying to match his verbal cry with a mental one. He was so strong in the force and he was filled with untainted power, power that could easily be twisted, turning the innocence and naivety of a child into unparalleled darkness.

He would serve her will and he would fit her Master's purpose with ease. Ben Skywalker would be the perfect ransom to control his parents and even if his parents ever rescued him, he would be a creature of darkness, unrecognizable to his parents. She ruthlessly crushed his clumsy and childish attempt toe instinctively call for his mother's help through the force and savored his fear as he was cut off from his mother and the force.

After all she was a Dark Jedi.

She remembered his fear when she had found him. She had caused that explosion. Oh, she hadn't been there at the time, but she had rigged it to go off earlier. Callista knew that Mara Jade was on her way, she could feel the puny little pretend Jedi coming. She moved quickly.

It wasn't time for a confrontation between them, yet. That would be on her Master's terms. It had only taken her a moment to find Ben. She could hear him crying. It had taken her a long moment to finally pinpoint him and reach him through the rubble, but there was no one left to protect him. A pilot, she vaguely recognized him as one of their escorts, was dead beside him and several feet to his left lay a groaning Tionne. Callista didn't bother to waste any time on the pilot and spared Tionne only a harsh kick in the gut and quickly scooped up Ben.

Now, she was in the x-wing she had stolen from Shelter and was quickly exiting the area that was affected by the varied and twisted gravitational forces of the Core. All she had to do now was get clear and then she could send a signal to her Yuuzhan Vong Masters.

Then they would see.


	17. The Dust Settles and Tempers Rise

Even with their combined strength and several strident repetition's of Yoda's "Do or do not; there is no try," Jaina and Kyp were barely able to lift the durasteel enough to wiggle Jag out from underneath it. The moment after Jaina had rolled under it and out onto Kyp's side, it went crashing back down to the floor with reverberations strong enough to make Kyp worry about even more of the ceiling caving in.

"Jag," Jaina asked warily, reaching out simultaneously with the force and her hand to see if he was still alive. To her relief, she quickly found his pulse, but Kyp could easily see that without a nice, several day long stint in a bacta tank, soon, Jag wouldn't last long.

Kyp refocused on Jaina, with her covered in dust, grime and blood- he wasn't sure if it was hers or someone else's- it was hard to tell if she was all right. Kyp was well aware of the fact that Jaina could have cared less about her own physical condition at the moment, but he had other things to worry about, as well. The entire station was in danger and he had no idea of what the current situation was. Mara was out there, but despite her very capable skills she was only one Jedi Master. She could only do so much, assuming she was still able to do anything.

Making a quick decision, Kyp said, tightly, "Help me put Fel, in a healing trance and then we need to move, Jaina. Jade could probably use some help."

Without a word of either agreement or disagreement, Jaina slipped into the flow of the force alongside Kyp. Working together, it took them less than a minute to slip him into a deep healing trance. It was the best thing they could do for him at the moment.

Grimly Kyp said, "Let's go." Rising to match his actions with what he had said, he stooped to pick up Jag.

Jaina stood up more carefully than Kyp. For a moment, it looked as if she would start swaying on her feet. Kyp started to reach a hand out to steady her.

"You okay, Goddess," he asked curtly.

She steadied herself, and grunted, "Nothing a few bacta patches won't fix."

But Kyp wasn't quite so sure. Nevertheless he picked up Jag and started walking. It seemed like forever before they managed to reach the site of the explosion. Both Kyp and Jaina were tense, waiting for another attack. None came, but both remained wary and silent, brooding in their own thoughts.

Without warning a lightsaber came crashing down towards Kyp's head. With Jag's added mass, Kyp couldn't move with his usual speed and grace. He stumbled back from the attack clumsily, but not nearly fast enough. He watched as the blade slid towards him with unstoppable speed and slammed solidly into an amethyst blade. The energy the blades released when they met singed Kyp's face.

The blades remained locked for a long moment, giving Kyp a chance to stumble back out the way and allowed Jaina room to press her attack. She withdrew her blade, pulling it back up quickly and then sending it slashing back down towards their still unseen assailant. Following her blade forward, Jaina took a step around the corner, saw her opponent and immediately stepped back, switching off her blade.

"Kam," she exclaimed, by way of a relieved greeting.

The older Jedi's expression was one of first surprise and then grim relief. He laid a hand on Jaina's shoulder as he reattached his lightsaber to his belt. "It's good to see you, three," he took in Jag's injured form. "Here, Durron," he said, "I'll carry, Fel."

He took Jag from Kyp and then beckoned for them to follow him. "We have a makeshift med center set up," he explained as they walked. "The explosion caught us unaware, but we've already found most of the trainees."

Kyp noticed that Kam himself didn't seem to have escaped unscathed. "How many critical injuries," he asked, just before Jaina could, "Jag needs a bacta tank."

Kam nodded at the last part of Kyp's statement. "We should be able to manage that, at least for a little while." His voice seemed to shrink. "The force was with us today. Most of the children will be fine, but a few of them won't make it." He grew harsher with every word and beneath his calm control, Jaina could feel his anger simmering.

"What about Ben and Mara," Jaina asked sharply.

"Mara's fine, she's still searching. Ben...," he hesitated, "Ben's still among the missing."

\- -

Mara pushed her way towards her destination, her lightsaber ignited and held up high to light her way. She moved with ease and a graceful efficiency of motion even as she focused all of her determination on her objective. After she had left Syal, Myri and Valin, she had found more and more people, trainees, non-force sensitive students and several of the other Jedi that were on Shelter at the moment. The more people she found the less she had to worry about the general rescue effort and the more she had been able to find one child in particular, Ben.

The last person she had helped out of the wreckage remembered that Ben had last been seen with Tionne. She had two options at that moment, randomly searching for Tionne and Ben or taking precious time to meditate and hoping that the force would show her what she wanted to see. At first she had chafed at the inaction, at the mere thought of sitting still while Ben was still missing, but then she forced herself to calm down. This was for Ben's sake. It had seemed like forever before the force had shown her where to find Tionne, but when she checked her chrono, she had thanked her lucky stars that it had only been fifteen minutes.

She was cutting her way through a piece of thick durasteel with incredible slowness when her comm. link blared at her. Taking one hand off of her lightsaber hilt, she quickly activated it. "Jade," she answered automatically.

"I just heard. Kam told me," Jaina explained rapidly into the comm. link. "Where are you?"

At that moment, Mara was incredibly glad to hear her niece's voice. Without hesitation she uttered three little words that most people thought she was incapable of saying, "I need help. I don't know where he is, Jaina and I can't feel Ben through the Force. I've almost reached Tionne, but," she trailed off. She didn't have to finish her sentence. Jaina knew all too well, from her own childhood, what could happen to unprotected children.

"I'm on my way, Mara," said Jaina, and Mara could hear the clatter of Jaina's feet as she ran towards her destination. "I'm going to try to find another way around I think I have an idea about how to get there faster." She hesitated, and then added, "And Mara, we will find him."

================================================================

Her feet pounded on the durasteel and she ignored the throbbing from the cauterized cut on her back and the rest of her body. She had heard the desperation in Mara's voice and she hated it. The idea she had told Mara about involved a short cut she had found a few days previously, while she was wondering the station at night. She was surprised that the students had yet to find it, but it would suit her needs perfectly. The entrance she had found was in the docking bay. The entrance led into a tunnel that wandered through the center of Shelter. It was probably part of some kind of central maintenance system, but all Jaina cared about at the moment was the fact that, as long as part of it hadn't caved in, it would take her quickly to where Tionne was.

She dashed through the docking bay scrambling towards the entrance pulling aside the panel and froze. Something was wrong, even in her mad dash through the docking bay something out of place had caught her attention. She put the panel down quietly, unhooking her lightsaber with her other hand and scanned the room slowly for whatever had set off her internal alarms.

It took her less than five seconds and an internal count of the ships that were in the docking bay to realize that one of the x-wings that had come in with her small portion of Twin Suns was missing. It took a second for the rest of the pieces to put themselves together in her mind. Amazingly enough all of her pilots had already been accounted for and she could only think of one other person on Shelter who would want to get out of there now. With a flash of Force guided intuition, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt where Ben was, or more accurately who she was with.

Without wasting another moment of time, she raised her comm. link to find it already beeping and signaling that someone was calling her. "Goddess, here," she snapped without thought. She paused her dash as she came to the Jade Shadow.

"What did you find," Mara demanded through her comm. link, "I felt something from you through the Force a moment ago."

"Is Ben with Tionne," Jaina demanded without answering Mara's question, desperately hoping that what she was thinking was wrong.

"No," Mara's voice was matter of fact, hiding what Jaina was sure that she was feeling much better than she had earlier.

"I know where he is," Jaina said slowly. "I'm in the docking bay right now. One of the x-wings is gone. Callista has him." Jaina wasn't sure what she had expected Mara to say or do, but clicking off her comm. link without so much as a word uttered, wasn't what she had expected. She stood there for a moment and then used the Force to open the special lock on the 'Shadow's hatch.

Despite her lack of any kind of reaction, Jaina was sure that Mara would be there as soon as she could, ready to go after Callista. Jaina intended to have the 'Shadow ready to leave by the time that Mara got there. It had been a while, since she had done them, but the preflight checks on this ship had once been like second nature to her. She was almost through the list of checks and she had been running scans of the system for about five minutes when she heard Mara come aboard.

Jaina quickly got out of the pilot's seat, retreating to the more familiar copilot's chair to wait for aunt to come to the cockpit. The moment Mara walked through the door, Jaina didn't wait to be asked for information. "The Shadow's ready for take off. I've been scanning the system for the past few minutes. I found the x-wing ion trail. Hopefully once we get out in space we can figure out where she was going when she went to hyperspace. The gravitic distortions from the Core should narrow down the places where she could jump from."

Mara simply nodded, as they worked together in silence to get the 'Shadow up into space. After several tense moments of working to trace the transmissions from the x-wing's hyperdrive, Mara spoke to Jaina for the first time, since she had come on board. "Jaina you don't have to come with me. I'm not going to stop until I find him and if you don't want to take those risks."

"No," Jaina cut her off sharply, "Ben's my cousin, don't try to stop me from going with you. I can take care of myself." Her brown eyes flashed with anger. "Besides, I have a score to settle with Callista."

Mara turned her attention back to the console in front of her and for the next few moments the only thing that they said were the banter of pilot and copilot pinpointing and laying in the x-wing's destination into the hyperdrive. Just before she pushed the levers that would send them into hyperspace behind Callista, Mara said, so softly that Jaina almost didn't hear her, "Thank you, Jaina."


	18. The Weird One

"Ten minutes to reversion," Jaina stated calmly, although she was really anything, but calm at the moment. She was impatient and angry. Her cousin had been kidnapped from right underneath both she and Mara's respective noses and she could have prevented. She should have fought harder, done more to ensure that Callista wouldn't be walking away from that fight. Callista wouldn't walk away again, she promised herself, not if she or Mara had anything to say about it.

"I want the lasers on-line as soon as we return to realspace," Mara said sharply, "She might have someone waiting for us." When Jaina had first told Mara about Ben's kidnapping, she had been surprised at how calmly her aunt had seemed to take the news. Now she knew better. She had always known of course, that Mara was a fully trained former Imperial assassin. It was simply a well acknowledged fact in her family. During her training she had profited greatly from Mara's extensive knowledge of most forms of combat, but until today she had never really been forced to confront that aspect of Mara's past. Today she had seen why Mara had been respected and even feared by those who had known who she truly was back then. If the person they were chasing had been anyone other than Callista, or if Ben hadn't been kidnapped, Jaina might have even been sorry for her.

The waited in tense silence as the minutes seemed to stretch out into forever. Both women watched as the counter ticked down to zero. Mara easily pulled it back towards her and they felt the familiar sensations of reverting to normal space.

The moment they were out, Jaina moved into action. Before Mara had even said anything, she was already starting scans on the system, and using the navcomputer to find their location. It didn't take her long however, to notice that Mara didn't seem to be paying attention to anything. Instead she was gazing out the view screen, staring out at the stars and the nearby planetary system as if they could tell her something, as if there was something there that Jaina couldn't see.

"Something's not right here," Mara said after a moment, "This whole system seems to be...off somehow."

Jaina didn't answer her for a moment. She had long ago learned to trust Mara's hunches. Mara was well known among the Jedi for her hunches and her intuition. To say that they were incredibly accurate was an understatement. It only took her a moment to find what she was looking for. "She's on the fifth planet in the system," she said quickly, "And she's not alone. I'm reading signs of Vong world forming on several of the other planets." Jaina hesitated for a second as she took note of their position. They were very close in to the Core, much closer than she had been aware that the Vong had made it. If they got out of this the Galactic Alliance command would have to be informed about this new encroachment.

Mara's console started screeching with threat warning's at the same time Jaina saw them. A squadron of skips were launching from the ninth planet in the system. Jaina looked over at Mara. She was the one in charge here. In normal circumstances they would have simply charged headfirst into the situation, but with Ben being held by them, or so they assumed, it was a entirely different story.

Mara didn't hesitate for a second. With a few deft adjustments to her console, the Jade Shadow was screaming towards the fifth planet and the skips. The skips spat molten plasma at them as they danced through the void towards them. Two skips screamed past them and exploded into coral dust as Mara sent the 'Shadow into a flat spin and Jaina simultaneously targeted them, using the ships guns to spit laser fire at them, chewing at their dovin basals defenses until they collapsed.

The 'Shadow rocked as they continued to weave their way through the skips and down towards the surface of the planet. As they went down, they continued to trade fire with the skips, overwhelmed by numbers but leaving coral dust in their wake, more often than not.

"Mara we have to get these skips off of our tail before we get to the planet's surface," Jaina hissed, while continuously spraying fire at the leading skip.

"Well," Mara demanded, "Do you have any suggestion? Because as many of these skips as we vape they just keep replacing them with more!"

Jaina smirked. The very first squadron she had ever joined was Rogue Squadron. She was also a Jedi Knight, a Solo and Goddess, just not necessarily in that order of importance. "Of course. Now."

=================================================================

Ktahn Okcha was a warrior blessed by the Gods and above all the others, he was blessed by Yun Yuuzhan. He was worthy of ever single tattooed scar, every misshapen broken bone in his body, and he was worthy of every single implant that the Yun Yuuzhan had seen fit to grant him. He was used to death and pain; he embraced it and did not fear it. He was also one of the best pilots and strategists that the line of Okcha had ever produced.

The Jeedai infidels in the metal ship would never make it down to the planet's surface. He would personally see to that. They would not defy this newly consecrated Yuuzhan Vong world with their presence. He sneered in disgust as coral skippers exploded around him. Those pilots were fools, but perhaps he could use those fools to his advantage as a distraction. He moved in towards the ship, intent on taking advantage of its weakness and stopped as an aft compartment began to hiss open.

He let loose several molten bursts of plasma towards the ship, and then rolled his skip away. Let other pilots die and fail their mission. He didn't seek to escape death, but if his mission was unsuccessful then what was the point. A moment later he watched as an x-wing, lasers starting to fire as soon as it cleared the other ship, came tumbling out of the larger ship. Even as it did the larger ship tumbled quickly away from it.

With precision, not the mindless determination that controlled many of his so called peers, he launched several volleys of plasma at the x-wing, ignoring the large ship for the moment. He was surprised when his shots didn't hit shields and instead slammed directly into the midsection of the x-wing, sending pieces of debris exploding through the vacuum towards all of the skips tightly grouped into the pack that was following the large ship.

Several skips exploded on impact with debris, but most didn't. Dovin Basals sucked up pieces of the debris or shoved them away. It was a useless ploy and unworthy of their adversary. As he dodged away from a large piece of fuselage, and his own dovin basal strained to push it further away from him, he realized far too late what they were doing. The dovin basals of all of the skips in the immediate area were stressed and strained almost to their limit at the moment. That was when the secondary charge, placed where the x-wing's astromech droid would have been, exploded. Ktahn Okcha didn't have time to curse Yun Harla before he died.

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Under any other circumstances, Jaina would have let out a whoop of joy and seeing the Vong harassing them vaped. Now, however, she simply started checking the systems for damage and assessing the situation, to see what if any emergency repairs that she needed to make. It wasn't time to celebrate yet, they still had to hunt Callista down and rescue Ben. She braced herself as the ship shuddered as they entered the planet's atmosphere.

"I found them," Mara's voice was as cold and hard as durasteel forged in a vacuum. Callista's hours were numbered.


	19. The BATTLE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Capslock also courtesy of my 15yo self. Apologies.

They were moving stealthily away from the 'Shadow and getting closer to Ben and Callista with each passing second. Both of them were heavily armed. They both carried their lightsaber's of course, but from there, their choice of personal arsenals had varied. Jaina carried blasters strapped to both of her hips and had a variety of vibroblades strapped to her body. While Jaina's approach to weaponry was just as deadly as Mara's, this time Mara favored firepower, rather than stealth as Jaina had aimed for. Jaina couldn't see it, but she was sure that Mara's holdout blaster was concealed on her somewhere. She had also watched Mara grab several handfuls of thermal detenators as they exited the 'Shadow.

The terrain they were moving through was thickly wooded, but both refrained from using their lightsabers to cut a path through it, for the moment choosing stealth over speed. Jaina, like Mara, was focused on their destination, but she was also carefully keeping an eye on their surroundings. It had been over a year since that fateful mission to Myrk, but the memory of that forest covered world and the ambushes that the Vong had sprung on the Jedi strike team, eventually claiming the lives of so many of Jaina's friends, was still fresh in her mind.

She was glad that after only ten or fifteen more minutes of travel, the thick growth began to show signs of thinning out. Cautiously they approached the edge of the thinning woods, and ducked behind a small outcropping of rock.

"Can you still sense Ben," Jaina asked. While she was glad to be exiting the woods, there was still the fact that the woods did provide them with considerable cover.

Mara nodded in response to Jaina's question and risked a glance out from behind the protective formation. "He's right up ahead of us. I can feel Callista, too." Hate tinged her voice with a tone that would strike fear into the heart's of most sensible beings. She and Jaina studied the terrain in front of them.

"There's a ledge about ten meters from the edge of the woods," Jaina whispered. "It looks like it dips down there, sort of forming an amphitheatre." She glanced over at Mara. "The question is: Is the amphitheatre natural or Vong made?"

Mara didn't acknowledge her question, choosing instead to glance around carefully, looking for any sign whatsoever of watching Vong. "If we can make it to that ledge, it should give us an excellent place to work from." She swiftly started to rise, matching actions to words, and began to move towards the ledge.

Jaina grabbed her before she had even moved a step and pulled her down. "Vong," that single whispered word was enough to freeze Mara where she crouched.

She remained carefully still for a long moment. Nothing drew attention to a person like movement. "Where," she demanded quietly.

"Two behind us, they haven't spotted us yet." She jerked her head slightly to the left. "Four more over their in that high outcropping. They probably have a few more scattered through the trees. Callista has to know we're coming." Jaina stated boldly. Despite her confidence she still got the feeling that they were walking freely into an ambush. Callista had to be counting on the fact that they would do whatever it took to find Ben. Not that it really mattered if they were walking into an ambush, though, they would both still go, no matter what.

Mara scanned the scenery behind her niece looking for the Vong warriors that Jaina had pointed out to her. They were well concealed, but not impossible to pick out. Mara glanced away from them and looked at Jaina. "Ten meters, I think we can make it." Mara watched Jaina. She wouldn't blame the girl for refusing to help her, for stating that it was too dangerous.

Jaina's only response was without hesitation, to reply, "We'll need a diversion."

Mara smirked at Jaina and said knowingly, "You just want to play with the thermal detonators."

Jaina's answering smile said it all. Without waiting for further planning, Jaina snatched three of the detonators off of Mara's belt and looked around, carefully calculating where to throw the detonators. She didn't want to risk hitting the 'Shadow or draw attention to the ship that they didn't want, but she also didn't want the explosion too near to their current position. Quickly deciding on a direction, she pulled her arm back and asked Mara, "Ready," even as she threw the thermal detonators towards their destination with a slight assist from the Force.

The two Jedi were scrambling from their hiding position the moment that the thermal detonators left Jaina's hand. They both ran flat out, until the reached the ledge and then slid into a low crouch, behind the rim. Without stopping to catch their breath, they carefully looked over the rim and down into amphitheatre. In silence they watched as Vong came and went through the area. It looked as if it were some sort of central control area. Jaina studied the area, trying to take in as much of the details as possible. It was likely that the knowledge her study of the area was providing her with would likely save her life, later in the day and she wanted to take full advantage of that opportunity.

She and Mara noted the tight knot of warriors gathered in the center of the plaza at the same time. They were distinctive because of their family scarring, most of which were recognizable even from their distance. There were warriors from Domain Carr, Domain Lah, Domain Shai and so many of the other domains that made up the warrior caste's strongest and most powerful bloodlines. It was even easier to spot the distinctive mark of a Shaper's visage among all of the warriors. Together they watched the group intently. From their distance it was impossible to tell what they were saying, but they did seem to be more or less in charge. Other Vong, of lower rank or caste would continually bring them messages.

"That's where he is," Mara stated calmly, a moment later, almost too calmly.

Her pronouncement seemed to trigger a sudden burst of activity from the Vong inside the amphitheatre; although Jaina knew realistically that there was no way that they could have been heard from where they were. A messenger, who even from their distance bore the distinctive look of a Shamed One, approached the group only to be dispatched a moment later with lethal efficiency. The group seemed to explode outward, and from behind the towering Yuuzhan Vong warriors, Jaina wasn't surprised to see Callista step forward with a mutely sobbing Ben in her arms.

The smile on her face was full of sadistic Dark power, that made Jaina wonder for a moment. During their fight Callista had referred to the Vong as her Masters, but Jaina knew all to well the seductive mindset of the Darkside and it was not conducive at all to being controlled Masters. It would be something to keep in mind, during the fight that would inevitably come.

Callista looked up towards the edge of the rim, not towards them, not yet, but clearly she was looking. Dragging a wickedly sharp nail across Ben's cheek and causing the little boy to only cry louder, Callista shouted loudly, "I know you're here, Jade, and little Jaina too. You didn't really think you could hurt me did you? You have no concept of the true power of the Force." She laughed with derision. "I have your son, Jade, but of course, you already know that. I would have thought that you would have been smarter than to come alone, or to come at all. Surely you know I won't allow you to take him back alive," she paused, "Or at least not before he's become loyal to me."

Jaina could see Mara tense, and despite the anger burning within her, she laid a restraining hand on Mara's arm. It wasn't time to make a move and reveal their position yet.

Callista's smirk was full of hate and derision, "I'll give you a chance, Jade," she said coldly after a moment. "Consider my offer carefully, because you will only get one chance. Come and duel with me. A duel to the death," she specified. "If you win, you and your son and your niece to walk out of here alive, if I win..." Her smile was full of victory, "If I win I get it all. Nothing and no one will be able to stop me. I will rule the galaxy. After all Jade, only you and your foolhardy niece know that I'm a threat. The rest of the galaxy will be caught unaware and it will all be mine."

Jaina could almost feel Mara seriously considering what Callista had just said. "She won't keep her end of the bargain," Jaina said quickly, not even considering for a moment the possibility that Mara might not when a fight between them, "The Vong won't either. It's just a trap to lure us out of hiding."

"She already knows that we're here," Mara pointed out.

"Or she could be fishing for confirmation. Mara, we don't really know what Callista wants to do here, besides try to kill both of us and Ben, but we do know that she's a Dark Jedi who's working with the Vong. If she didn't have something else planned for us, or need us to reveal our presence for some reason, she wouldn't even be trying to negotiate with us."

"Jaina," pain and fear for her son were palpable in Mara's voice, "I have to do this."

The distinctive snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting, cut into their hurried conversation and for one frantic moment, Jaina thought Mara was already moving to take Callista's offered deal. Her blood ran cold a moment later, though, when she saw that it was Callista's lightsaber that had been drawn. It hissed through the air and then Callista shouted harshly, "Come out now, Jade or I will kill you son." It only took them one glance to see that Callista held her ignited lightsaber with the upper portion of the blade almost brushing Ben's throat. If Callista so much as coughed Ben would be dead.

This time Mara didn't hesitate and Jaina didn't try to stop her. She was right behind the Jedi Master. They leaped into motions, jumping up onto the rim, lightsabers igniting as they moved, and dove out into the air. They twisted as they dove, their lightsabers a blur of motion as they flicked away a hail of incoming thud bugs before they even hit the ground, roughly twenty meters below them.

Jaina rolled with the impact of her landing and sprang back to her feet, instinctively coming to stand back to back with Mara. Jaina was left facing the startled mass of Vong warriors, while Mara was face to face with Callista and Ben. Jaina could feel the tension in Mara's muscles- she was trembling with the effort of keeping herself from attacking Callista.

"Let him go, Callista," Mara said coldly, refusing to let her enemy see the slightest hint of weakness within her.

Callista laughed, "You would tell me what to do while I'm holding a lightsaber to your son's throat. You are insane, Jade. Now put down your lightsaber or your son will die."

"No."

Callista looked at Mara with a hint of disbelief in her eyes. A triumphant smirk began to grow on her face. "You would just stand there and watch your own child die, Jade. All that proves is that you are truly the Emperor's Hand. You might have convinced the rest of the galaxy that you've reformed, that you really love Luke, but I know better, Jade. And now Jaina does too. How do you like the knowledge that your precious aunt is nothing more than an opportunistic killer, Jaina?"

Mara tensed. She knew that what Callista was saying wasn't true, and she knew that Jaina was aware of that too, but what Callista said, had hit too close to home. It was too close to the truth in some ways. Twenty years ago, what Callista was accusing her of, could have been the truth. Back then she would have done almost anything to obey the Emperor's orders, regardless of who she had to hurt and lie to, to accomplish her mission.

Mara suddenly felt a tendril of Force energy brush her mind. Her first instinct was to push it away, anticipating a mental attack from Callista, but the moment she recognized her niece's unique mental signature she stopped and opened her mind to Jaina. A flash of images invaded Mara's mind as she let Jaina in and she almost smiled. She sent Jaina a wave of agreement quickly. It had only taken seconds for them to share Jaina's plan, and for Jaina to receive Mara's permission and agreement to act.

Their Force link allowed them to coordinate their motions, so Mara wasn't surprised when she saw Jaina spin towards Callista and throw one of the thermal detonator's towards Callista's other side.

Callista reacted with the speed and instincts of a fully trained Jedi, just as they had anticipated. She whipped her topaz blade away from Ben and sliced through the detonator in a blur of motion. Even as her blade came back around to hang threateningly next to Ben's neck, it was intercepted with a sharp crash by Mara's blue blade. Callista's look was one of priceless shock. It caused her to hesitate, just for a moment. A moment however, was all Jaina and Mara needed.

As Mara pushed her blade steadily away from Ben, Jaina aimed a sweeping kick at Callista's legs. As the still surprised Dark Jedi fell towards the ground, Jaina slammed the hilt of her lightsaber into a sensitive nerve on Callista's arm, causing the woman's arm to go numb, releasing Ben in the process.

Quickly Jaina, picked Ben up and stepped back away from Callista, as Mara stood protectively in front of them.

"Mama," Ben cried. Mara could hear the mixture of happiness at seeing her and fear in his voice.

Jaina shot a glance at Callista and then said quietly, "Here," and changed places with Mara, handing her son back to her.

The Vong warriors hadn't moved, yet, they had circled around the small group of Jedi, but were waiting for Callista's orders before they attacked. Everyone, Vong, Jedi, and child watched as Callista stood back up. "You won't win this, Jade." She threatened, as she watched Mara cradle Ben protectively against her. She looked past them and out at the Vong warriors. "Kill them, and bring me the child."

The first three Vong warriors charged Jaina even as Callista aimed a lightsaber slash at Mara and Ben. For a moment, Mara was frozen. She didn't know what to do. There was no way that she could fight Callista while she was holding Ben. She risked a quick glance at Jaina only to see that her niece was a blur of amethyst and tangled amphistaff's. Then Mara did the only thing she knew to do. She hated it with every fiber of her being, but it was the only way she could think of to keep them all alive.

Quickly she ducked beneath Callista's slash and put Ben down behind her. On the other side of him Jaina formed a protective barrier against the Vong. The next moment, Callista hardly knew what hit her. Mara's blade was nothing more substantial than a blur of motion, slashing and feinting towards Callista only to be gone a second later.

Callista managed to slam a fist into Mara's stomach a moment later, but her slight advantage didn't last long as Mara responded with a solid kick to Callista's knee that sent her staggering back and severely hampered her movement. Mara was temporarily distracted from her target as a thud bug flew towards her. She knocked it quickly out of the air, skewering it with the tip of her blade and risked a quick glance at Jaina.

Her niece was fighting with five Vong warriors, ducking under one's amphistaff even as she aimed a kick at another's throat. Her amethyst lightsaber was in constant motion, knocking away thud bugs and pushing away amphistaff's and coufees. Her deadly blade found the delicate underarm whole in one Vong's armor and slashed through the throat of another before Mara turned back to Callista.

The Dark Jedi had regained her feet, but Mara didn't give her a moment past that to regain the advantage. She surged forward, dispelling the brief burst of Force lightening that Callist threw at her. Her blue blade slashed down towards Callista's neck. At the last moment their blades met with a furious clash. Mara was instantly in motion again, searching for a hole in Callista's defenses. It only took her a moment.

Callista had been trained by the old Masters of the Old Republic and her fighting style was a bit more formal than Mara's. Mara's style was born of a galaxy at constant war and a need for survival. She was just a fraction of a second faster than her opponent, but that was all she needed. Mara aimed two powerful slashes at Callista, hammering her blade down, forcing her to use the hand weakened by Jaina's earlier. Callista's topaz blade only faltered by a few centimeters but that was all needed. Mara sharply kicked at Callista's now weakened, overextended hand and knocked it out of the way. With a twist of her wrist she disengaged her blade from Callista's and sent it towards her in a blow that would cut the Dark Jedi in half. At the last moment Callista managed to stumble back, almost falling to the ground in shock as the gaping wound in her side hissed and steamed.

Callista raised her hands, a vicious expression replacing the look of pain that Mara had caused. Force lightening flickered from her hand in furious bursts. The first and second attack Mara managed to catch on her lightsaber or dispel with her hand, but she wasn't so lucky with the third. It slammed into her right side and she almost collapsed, barely managing to keep a grip on her lightsaber.

"You're dead, Jade," Callista gloated raising her hand to shoot another burst at Mara, not noticing the scattered bodies of Vong warriors all around her or the fact that there were no more Vong warriors to tie Jaina up, for the moment.

"It's Jade Skywalker," Mara snapped as she steadied herself, keeping her lightsaber blade between her and Callista.

Callista sneered and released another barrage of Force lightning. Her sneer turned to a look of horror as she suddenly saw the Force lightening change direction and head back towards her. The last thing she saw before it hit her was Jaina standing next to Mara with a grimly satisfied expression on her face. "That was for Jag." Jaina raised her lightsaber and took a step forward, "And this is for all of the people that died because of you on Shelter."

Jaina's blade slashed down through the air, moving towards Callista's prone form in a diagonal slash. Somehow, summoning her strength at the last moment, Callista rolled towards Jaina. Jaina's blade missed beheading Callista by a few centimeter's, leaving a burning cut across her forehead and catching her shoulder with a deep cut.

Beyond comprehension of pain at that moment and consumed with anger, Callista grasped her lightsaber in her still good hand and slashed at Jaina's feet. Jaina jumped back, turning it into a flip that set her back several feet from Callista and gathered Ben into her arms, as Callista tried to stand.

Mara didn't let her, aiming a quick kick at Callista's rib cage and wrenching Callista's lightsaber from her with the force.

She raised her lightsaber towards Callista and froze as she heard, Jaina her name urgently. "Mara, we have to go, now. We don't have time to finish this," Jaina pointed towards several entrances near them. They could already see dozens of Vong pouring through the entrances moving towards them and filling the air with Vong war cries.

A hail of thud bugs and several spear like amphistaffs thrown perilously close to Ben, left Mara caught in a moment of indecision. She wanted Callista to die for everything that she had done. She raised her lightsaber to sink it, into Callista's torso, determined to finish it and stopped as Jaina said quickly, "Mara, we don't have time. We came here to save Ben. If we finish this now, there are too many Vong here. They'll kill us and Ben, too before we can get out, and that's if we're lucky. Do you want to subject him to Vong captivity?"

It was a low blow and one Jaina hated to use. She wanted Callista to pay for her crimes as much as Mara did, but she would never subject Ben to Vong custody and she knew that Mara wouldn't either. It was time to run.

Mara didn't wait a moment longer, she took Ben from Jaina and without casting a backwards glance at Callista ran towards the wall of the amphitheatre that had set on top of earlier. Jaina followed her quickly, guarding their retreat, slicing through thud bugs, and a several Vong limbs. She waited until Mara was on top of the ledge and raining blaster fire down on the Vong that were attacking her before she dared to stop fighting them long enough to take the several Force assisted leaps necessary to reach the top.

They were safe for now. Nothing could stop them, not the Vong warriors on the ground or even an entire Vong flotilla in space above the planet. Piloting the 'Shadow together, Jaina and Mara sent the ship diving through the Vong fleet, scorching skips into molten hulks of coral and sending other skips flying into other larger Vong crafts. They left a path of chaos, destruction and absolute mayhem in their wake as they entered hyperspace.


	20. The Even Weirder One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind-to-mind thoughts denoted by **words words words***
> 
> I guess this was before I knew how to use italics either? Idk.

Their return to Shelter was full of tension. Jaina and Mara were both expecting a hail of grutchkins to follow them into hyperspace, or to be pulled back into realspace by a dovin basal mine with a Yuuzhan Vong task force waiting for them. Neither the former, nor the latter happened, though. Jaina sitting in the copilot's chair, glanced up at Mara and Ben was currently sleeping in his mother's lap. She would have smiled at the picture that they presented had she not know what Ben had recently gone through.

The little boy was resting his head on Mara's chest, with one hand clinched into a fist around a section of his mother's black tunic. Mara had an arm wrapped carefully around him, half-possessively and half a shield from the galaxy at large.

It was different, Jaina decided, being on this side of a kidnapping. The fear was different, but just as paralyzing and the sense of helplessness was identical. As she let the detached part of her mind wander, she involuntarily called up images she seldom contemplated. Her parents thought that she had stopped having nightmares years ago about those attempts, but they were wrong. She had simply grown used to hiding them. She hoped Ben wouldn't have to. He and billions of other little children like him were what kept her fighting this war when everything else seemed hopeless.

Jaina felt the change in Ben's emotions seconds before he woke, screaming. Mara was reacting to her son's distress immediately. She scooped him up even more securely in her arms and whispered to him in soothing words that Jaina couldn't quite make out. He quieted after a moment, but continued to sob in his mother's arms. Surprising herself, Jaina reached out towards Ben. She hesitated for a moment and then carefully laid her hand on his tiny shoulder.

She felt his physical and emotional flinch and then she was caught up in the unique Force bond between Mother and Son. But even before she could consider that she was overwhelmed by Ben's terror. Mara could only do so much to comfort and soothe him. Jaina felt like an inadvertent intruder, invading the personal space of her aunt and cousin. She had invaded this private domain for only one reason, though, she reminded herself through the endless pain and terror of Ben's emotions.

She, Jaina, along with her twin, had been given a gift long ago by a Jedi healer now long gone from the Order and now she had a chance to repay that freely given gift. It was difficult for her. Healing wasn't her gift and she always worked better on this sort of thing with Jacen. Instead of focusing on her despair, though, she focused on the Force, the whole Force, not seeking to form it or bind it to her will but creating the purist, blinding lightside energy that she could. She focused on the feeling of a gift given and freedom received, freedom from fear and she channeled all of that into Ben.

She had expected a reaction but not a response from Ben. It was just as overwhelming as his fear. Ben was strong in the Force, but still untrained. His response to her gift was immediate if clumsy. He reached back towards her in the Force. At first she didn't understand. Jaina had felt his relief, the way the Force had taken away the edge of his nameless terror, she didn't know why he was reaching back out to her, through the Force.

She felt Ben touch her mind, and it was if he was unlocking something, or maybe showing her something that she didn't even know was there. The Force expanded around them infinitely and instantaneously. Jaina's mind was assaulted by a chaotic rush of images too quickly for her to even try to understand them. Moments later the vision and her consciousness deserted her at the same time, leaving a much calmer Ben and a worried and perplexed Mara staring at her neice and wondering about her bizarre behavior.

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Jaina Solo stood on a beautiful world. Soft sunlight and clean, fresh air spilled gently around her. As the alien grass waved in ripples and the breeze danced lightly through it, she looked around curiously. She didn't know where she was or even how she had gotten there. Something insider her knew that she should be panicking, analyzing, struggling to figure out who was responsible for leaving her here and if she was in danger. But for whatever reason- this place seemed to be having some kind of effect on her- she wasn't.

Jaina looked around curiously, noticing little oddities as she did so. She was dressed in her Jedi robes, and not the black combat gear that she had been wearing. She was also, in a very detached way, glad when she noticed that she still had her lightsaber and her blaster.

She turned slowly, taking in the scenery, the gently rolling hills and the total absence of any beings of any recognizable sentient species. After surveying her surroundings for a moment, she began to move towards the nearest hill and started easily up it. It wasn't that high, but it would at least give her a slightly better view than her current one. She reached the top of the hill without the slightest change in her breathing.

"Hello."

She whirled around, and even despite her surprise, she had her lightsaber and blaster aimed at them before the woman in front of her could say another word. "Who are you," she demanded, her disorientation returning as she was forced to confront this new situation. What she needed was time, time to figure out what was going on here.

The young man smirked and directed a look of infinitely superior wisdom at her. "My name is Anakin Skywalker," he gestured to the woman at his side. "This is my wife- your grandmother- Padme Amidala."

A blaster bolt bit into the ground at his feet. He didn't even flinch. "You're lying. Next time... I aim higher."

The man smiled wildly, looking for a moment as if he were enjoying himself. Instead of backing down, he raised his hand and invited her to try it. "It's been far too long since I've had a good fight. Maybe you'll listen once I've taught you to respect your elders. I was a Sith Lord, you know." He still smiled, but something, something in his voice or maybe a look in his eyes made Jaina pause for a moment. There was no way that this man could be telling the truth, but he believed what he was saying.

Before either of them had made a move, though, the woman stepped forward and shot an angry look at the man. "Stop that, Ani. We might look young," she gestured at their bodies, "but you're old enough to know better. It's not the way of the Jedi or the reason that she's here. Besides," she added with a knowing glance at Jaina, "She thinks we're dead. She doesn't know where we are."

Jaina looked back and forth between them. Something was wrong; she could feel the wrongness of her being here. A sharp pain ripped through her head and she involuntarily staggered back a step. Images began rushing her head of the last few weeks. Finding Callista, spending time with Jag, arriving at Shelter, learning about sensing the Vong with the Force, the fight with Callista- both of them- and then finally the way Ben had touched her through the Force. Suddenly two much more pertinent questions popped into her head. What had happened to her and where was she?

Jaina suddenly found herself on the ground looking up at the couple. Their faces morphed rapidly until she was looking up at Mara and Ben. "Jaina? Jaina, wake up." She heard Mara command and then they were gone. A phantom pressure on her face, and she was looking up at the man who claimed to be her grandfather. It was his hand on her face and he- she suddenly sensed- was the one who was responsible for keeping her here.

**Keeping you mind here,** She heard the man say. She only realized belatedly that his lips had never moved. He was speaking directly into her mind, which was something only the most powerful of the Jedi could do. Suddenly he was speaking again and she was hearing so much more than the words that he was saying. She could feel his intentions, and she could also feel that he was telling the truth. That simple thought filled her with a very real fear, because that could mean only one thing. If this couple was truly her grandparents, then she was dead.

**Not dead,** For the first time, Jaina was glad to hear his voice, *You're just unconscious.**

She sat up abruptly, and struggled back, away from him with an awkward, clumsiness that would have given Mara a fit, had she seen it. "I've been unconscious before," she snapped defiantly, "I don't usually see dead relatives."

The man's- her grandfather's- chuckles filled her mind, **True, but this time you needed to speak with me.** He stood up and offered her and hand up. He seemed to sense her next question before she even asked it.

"Why would I- "

"Because you are the Sword of the Jedi and I am the Chosen One." He looked at her steadily. He was speaking out loud again, but she could still feel his emotions. A deep sense of regret mixed with the supreme wisdom of hindsight poured off of him and suddenly he seemed much older than the image of the young Jedi Knight standing in front of her.

She stood up without saying a word, letting him speak when he would. They walked in silence for a long moment until they stopped in the middle of a small meadow.

"From the time I was accepted into the Order, I was known as the Chosen One- he who would restore balance to the Jedi." His eyes grew serious, "What the Jedi didn't know was how the scales would be evened. In the end only two were left for each side, but it was, nonetheless, a balance. One very powerful Master and the incredibly powerful servants that they had mentored. Obi-wan and myself. Yoda and Palpatine. In the end it all came down to Luke. He tipped the scales of the balance once again, but at the same time maintained the balance between Light and Dark within himself." He looked appraisingly at Jaina. "What I am here to tell you, is that I didn't have to turn to the Dark Side to restore the balance of the Force. The same thing could have been accomplished if I hadn't turned. I could have mastered the Light Side and led the change and reform necessary to the Order, from within."

"At your knighting ceremony you were named Sword of the Jedi. The same burden- that of the future of the Jedi- was placed on you. Jaina, you have the same choice that I did. You can become the Dark avenging Sword the drives the Vong from this galaxy in oceans of their own blood and rule both their galaxy and ours with a Dark fist," he was pleased to see that she looked stunned and even a little revolted at the idea, "Or," he continued, "You can become the Sword that defends, that stops harm before it is done, that stands firm until the last challenger has fallen. You can save your galaxy from the threat from without and prevent the unleashing of the threat from within them. It is your decision."


	21. Precipice

The impact of his words wasn't lost on Jaina, but one thing about what he had said was bothering her. "Why are you telling me this now? I've already used the Darkside and come back from it. I've been fighting by the rules of the Jedi Order."

Anakin nodded, looking at her seriously with a hint of concern- concern for her and about the consequences of the choices that she face- and said, "You haven't truly made your decision yet. You've tasted both sides of the balance, but you haven't truly committed to either one yet. The time hasn't come for you to make that choice." He could sense that she wanted to question him more, but he kept talking. "Soon." He said softly, "You will know when the moment comes, Jaina." He steepled his fingers in front of him in the traditional pose of a Jedi in contemplation and started walking forward. "You have been given this opportunity for two reasons. First, you needed to be made aware of what had happened and second..." He trailed off and Jaina got the sense that he didn't want to continue for her sake. "The future is always in motion, Jaina, and the Galaxy is already locked in great turmoil, much as it was in my days. But what is coming next effects you, personally. The Force has allowed you this place to come when you truly have need of it."

She looked at him. This was surreal and while her faith in the will of the Force was unshakable, she questioned whether this was real or simply a phantom of her unconscious mind. She opened her mouth to say something to him and everything went sideways. She saw him, but not him. Faces blurred, her sight blacked in and out. Just when she thought that even with her Jedi control , she would irreversibly nauseous, everything was calm and still.

It resolved into one achingly clear image. Jag.

A huge smile crept slowly over her face as she saw him. He looked much better than the last time she had seen him. The time he had spent in a bacta tank had certainly helped. She reached one hand up to his face, tracing gently over his features, her hand searching for any new scars. His smile, while not large by most standards still made her feel better than a hundred healing trances, because she knew that it was reserved for her alone. As she remembered what had occurred to put her in Shelter's med center- she had immediately recognized her surroundings- her smile diminished. Jag saw the change in her expression even as she asked, "Mara, Ben are they- is he okay?"

He took her hand gently and something began to tingle in the back of her mind. Not her traditional danger sense, but a warning none the les. She ignored the indistinct sensation and focused on Jag's response.

"They're fine," he said quickly to her relief. "Master Jade only had a few very minor wounds from her fight with Callista and Ben will be fine once the trauma he sustained has had a chance to fade away with time. Master Luke is already on his way here, as well." He cocked his head, looking at her curiously as she leaned up towards him. "Jaina," he asked with an edge of curiosity and caution, "What are you doing, Solo?"

She ignored him and the tingling warning that was growing more insistent in the back of her mind and kissed him without hesitation. She had been so scared when she had seen him laying there bleeding, underneath the rubble and burned from Callista's Force lightning attack. He responded eagerly, but she could feel his surprise. The sense of warning in the back of her mind grew from a tingle to a full fledged shriek. A sudden sensation of weakness hit her without warning.

She broke the kiss as the disorienting feeling of a sudden high fever hit her. "Jaina," he asked, his voice full of concern.

She looked at him strangely, his voice had been oddly distorted and garbled. His face wavered in front of her and she blinked, trying to refocus her vision. The first thing to come back into focus was his green eyes, but suddenly they seemed darker than she remembered. His hair was longer. It was actually shaggy. She hadn't been gone that long and besides no male fighter pilot would allow his hair to get that long. She looked for his distinctive lock of white hair and found..nothing. She pulled back from him unsteadily, as she recognized one of her oldest friends. "Zekk?"

========================================================================

Jagged Fel hung suspended in a bacta tank. He would spend the next four hours in the healing liquid and then be pulled out again. It was the longest anyone was remaining in the bacta for now. With a shortage of bacta tanks and quite a few injured people, a rotation of the injured had been set up.

He tried to close his eyes and relax. It was supposed to help him heal, he knew, this wasn't his first time taking a dip in bacta, but every time he shut his eyes an image of Jaina, hurt and dieing assaulted him. Jag remembered going to help Jaina and he remembered the horrible, mind-blowing pain of Callista's force lightning attack. There had been nothing that he could do. He hadn't even been able to stop himself from moaning and writhing in pain. His muscles all gave a sympathetic twitch at the memory. He had gone there to help Jaina and he had ended up making things worse for her. Because of him, because she had been forced to protect him and not focus fully on fighting Callista, Callista had been able to defeat Jaina, at least temporarily.

Jaina could have died because of him.

He knew he was becoming more and more agitated, but he couldn't seem to summon his usual grim, calm. When it came to Jaina, his response was based on feelings, feelings that he didn't like to acknowledge, much less act on. When it came to Jaina, he was almost like a different person all together. He let his eyes fall closed, momentarily losing the fight against exhaustion. Jag felt himself drifting, edging closer to sleep and its sweet oblivion.

A topaz lightsaber cut through his line of sight and wasn't blocked by its opponent. It slid inexorably into its target and penetrated its victim with uncanny, but lethal ease.

Jag jerked awake as Jaina's lifeless body hit the floor. He felt a momentary panic that not even the cool light of awakening could completely banish. He wouldn't be totally reassured that Jaina was okay, until he saw her again and held her tightly in his arms. Despite or maybe because of Jaina, thoughts of the messages that his father and sister had sent him had been on his mind. He hadn't mentioned to Jaina, even in passing, that he was being recalled by the Chiss. She knew nothing about it. Jaina knew nothing about the decision that he was being forced to make. It was unlikely, especially given the recent tension on Csillia that his family had described and the Anti-Galactic Alliance sentiment that was prevalent, that the Chiss would join the war on the Vong.

He and the rest of the squadron that he had originally led into the Known Regions would be reassigned to some post far away from the Galactic Alliance and the Yuuzhan Vong. He refused to abandon Jaina, but he also had a duty to his family and the culture that had taken he and his family in and accepted them as their own. Somehow he had to find a compromise. He would have to go to his father and actually ask the Baron for his help. It was probably the last thing that Jag wanted to do. The Baron had always carried high expectation for his children and now that Jag was the oldest of his living children, the rancor's share of his father's expectations had fallen on him.

He had always struggled to surpass the standard- and not just human standards- but Chiss standards, as well. Jag had prided himself on being the best of the best and never disappointing the Baron, whenever he could help it. Going to his father would be an admission that he couldn't handle it himself. Besides the Baron would never approve of Jaina, simply based on the fact that she was a Solo. His father would approve even less if Jag actually told him about Jaina, but Jag couldn't think of any other option.

A flurry of activity across the med bay inadvertently sent a jolt of adrenaline rushing through his veins, countering his exhaustion for the moment. His serious, worried tangle of thoughts pushed away for the moment, Jag watched in bacta enforced silence as a knot of med personnel pushed into the room with a patient and other med techs in the room started prepping equipment. Jag glanced at the Chrono visible from where he floated and read it through a pinkish haze. He only had three and a half more hours left in this session. Then maybe he could talk to Kyp and see if there was any new information about Jaina.

A glimmer of titian hair that almost didn't register in his pinkish world, made him take a closer look at the group of med personnel. During his last period out of bacta, Kyp had stopped by for few brief moments to tell him that Jaina was gone on a mission with Mara. If the Jedi Master was back, the surely she would have at least some information about Jaina. For one wild moment, Jag forgot the severity of him injuries and how blissful the bacta felt after hours of its absence. He wanted nothing more than to break free of the bacta tank and demand to know where Jaina was and if she okay.

The moment he had his answer, he wished he was still wondering. Even from his distance and through the unique tint of bacta, he could see how pale and unresponsive Jaina was. She had obviously been in a fight, he could tell that much. What he didn't know was who she had fought or how bad her injuries were. Jag was puzzled as he watched the healers moving around Jaina. He wasn't familiar with Jedi Healers or their practices like he was with normal medical personnel, but it certainly didn't look like she was being prepped for the bacta tank. Of course, that could be good news or bad. It could mean that her injuries weren't serious enough to warrant bacta or that her wounds were beyond the ability of bacta to heal. Not knowing, being forced to watch while he was helpless, was worse than already knowing the diagnosis for Jaina's injuries.

He watched in forced stillness as Jedi Healers attended to Jaina. He noticed, as he watched- even from his distance that the healers all wore worried expressions and although he couldn't hear what she was saying, he could see Mara talking to Cilghal. The Jedi master seemed almost as worried about her niece as she was protective about her son. She hadn't let Ben out of her arms the entire time- not that he had wanted to get down.

Only the fact that catching the attention of the medics would distract them from Jaina, kept Jag from banging impatiently on the side of his bacta tank and demanding to be let out. Being with Jaina, no matter what happened, had to be better than this.

============================================================================ ======

Hours later when Jag was finally pulled out of the bacta tank at the end of his rotation, he almost felt worse than when he was put in. Usually when he came out of a bacta dip, he felt much better than when he was put in. Today, he felt like he had gotten into a hand-to-hand fight with two dozen Yuuzhan Vong warriors, while having a rancor do a tap dance on his skull. Instead of four hours of rest and time spent in the bacta's healing properties, he had four hours of torture, restrained from Jaina for his own good.

"Colonel," he looked almost blankly at the med tech before nodding.

"Good," the man said tightly, "That was the fourth time I spoke to you. I was starting to think that you had an undiagnosed hearing injury." The man gestured sharply before Jag could reply, "This way, sir. We need to assess your condition befre we proceed."

Jag was barely focusing on the man, all he was seeing was where Jaina had been taken. He couldn't see her anymore, but he knew she had to be there. He would have noticed if she had been moved.

"Colonel," the man called again as Jaina moved away from him completely. He knew vaguely that he was still unsteady from his injuries, but totally focused on one person as he was, he didn't even notice. He was across the med bay quickly, only slowing down as he got closer to her. Jag stopped outside the door to the small room where Jaina was being treated. The small concession to privacy, Jag assumed was due to her status as Goddess. Even within the walls of Shelter the façade had to be maintained, although not so strictly.

He reached for the door and started to enter. In the next moment, he stopped abruptly cocking his head to the side in an unnecessary gesture. He heard voices inside, voices that weren't Jaina's, but were familiar nonetheless. For the first time in his rush to get to Jaina, he hesitated. He wanted to see Jaina- he needed to see her- but he didn't want to have to deal with her family or friends at the moment. Just a few private moments was all that he asked.

He started to turn away, but stumbled back as he came face to face with the med tech that he had ignored. This time the man's face showed more sympathy. It had replaced the hard all business attitude almost completely.

"Here," the man said more generously, "I didn't realize that you knew Jedi Solo." He palmed the door open before Jag could utter a half-hearted protest or explanation. Involuntarily, Jag's eyes immediately found Jaina.

".a ."

Jag was only registering a few of the man's words. He was too focused on Jaina. So focused, in fact, that it took him a moment to notice that Jaina was awake. At the brilliant smile on Jaina's face, he felt the corner's of his own mouth twitch into a small happy smile of relief. It was impossible to be anything but relieved now that he had seen her and reassured himself that she was okay.

It was a full minute later before he noticed the man standing next to her and then it was only because of the way that Jaina was caressing the man's face. Dismissing Jaina's unusual actions and his own flare of jealousy, it only took him a moment to place the man. He hadn't recognized him before then because the last time he had seen him, that man was being rushed in for medical treatment. It was the young Jedi who Jaina had been so worried about- Zekk.

Then without warning, the moment had changed irreversibly, and Jaina was kissing Zekk. He stood numb, but bombarded with a myriad of emotions. Every thought, every hope was cut off instantly, dieing a sudden and painful death. With as much certainty and determination as he had poured into getting to her side in first place, Jag turned sharply and walked away. Some would call it impulsive, others would note that it was very out of character for the precise, controlled young man. Jag didn't care. His family needed him. Jaina obviously didn't. It was incredibly simple and infinitely painful.


	22. Jaina, Stubborn? No!

Mara Jade Skywalker shifted her son to rest on her other hip. With one hand she gently brushed a piece of strawberry blonde hair away from his face and dropped a kiss on the top of his head. She held him a little bit tighter as she looked towards the two ships that were sitting down in the docking bay. She was nervous. Even Mara Jade Skywalker didn't want to have to face Han and Leia Solo to tell them that Jaina had almost died from amphistaff poisoning that she had received on a mission with her.

The occupant of the x-wing, on the other hand, Mara couldn't wait to see. The terror of having Ben kidnapped again, was still impossibly fresh. She wanted Luke's reassuring presence there with them and to be wrapped tight in his arms with Ben sandwiched safely in between them. Luke was out of his x-wing before Han even had the boarding ramp on the 'Falcon lowered. Nothing of the calm, stoic Jedi Master was evident as Luke vaulted out of his x-wing and sprinted towards them. He stopped his mad dash a foot away from them, and reached out hesitantly towards Ben.

The little boy surprised them both by saying, or rather shrieking, "Daddy!" as he reached out to Luke.

Luke quickly pulled Ben to his chest, holding his son tightly. Mara could feel the connection between father and son in the Force and Luke's overwhelming relief that his son was fine. It was only a second later before he looked searchingly up at her, "Mara," he asked with immediate concern, "Are you okay?"

She nodded wearily and stepped towards him. He wrapped his free arm around her and she let herself relax in his arms for a moment before she murmured softly in his ear, "I was so scared, Luke."

She could feel Luke's agreement through their connection in the Force, "I just kept wondering if it was too late to get to you and Ben. I can't imagine a life without either of you." He pulled back slightly and whispered softly, "I love you so much, Mara." Their lips met for a brief kiss. They slowly separated after a moment, but they didn't move away from one another. Mara rested her head against his shoulder for a moment, her eyes shut in an attempt to hold onto the wonderful feeling of being back in Luke's arms and knowing that Ben was safe.

She had seen Han and Leia hanging back discreetly a moment before. Now she could hear them walking over. Their agitation and concern for Jaina was almost palpable through the Force. The hand that Luke had wrapped protectively, or at least as protectively as she would allow, around her waist tightened slightly to bring her attention back to the situation. She opened her eyes and found Han and Leia watching her as she had expected. "Jaina's fine," she said before either of them could ask.

Han relaxed somewhat, but Leia said not convinced, "What happened to her? I felt..something in the Force. At first it was just the usual sense that Jaina was hurt, but then," she shook her head, "I don't know. I've never felt anything like that."

Mara nodded slowly, remembering as she opened her mouth to explain that Han and Leia didn't know anything about what had happened and for that matter, Luke didn't know that much either. She gestured towards the corridor that led out of the docking bay, "I'll explain as we go," she said quickly, "I'm sure you want to check on Jaina."

"I didn't know that she was hurt," Mara said tiredly, after she had already explained most of the situation with Callista.

Leia could here the self-reproach in the other woman's voice. It didn't surprise her that Mara felt responsible for what had happened to her former apprentice. Mara had always felt very responsible for everything that happened to her niece since Jaina had become apprentice. "She was fine on the way back to the 'Shadow."

"You didn't see her get hurt during the fight," Han asked surprised. Mara was usually aware of almost everything that was going on around her in a fight.

"No," Mara said in a clipped tone of voice, "I was dealing with Callista, Ben was between Jaina and I, and we were trying to keep him protected in between us. Jaina was fighting about a dozen Vong warriors off of our flank."

"What happened to her," Han asked with typical parental impatience.

"Jaina collapsed once we got into hyperspace. Ben was crying and she was trying to comfort him through the Force. As soon as I found the amphistaff wound, I put her into a healing trance. There wasn't anything else I could do until we got back to Shelter. Cilghal and the other healers have been working to counteract the poison since we landed."

As they turned the corner, Leia staggered back as someone slammed into her and unapologetically shoved past her without an explanation or even a mumbled apology.

"Hey watch it, Kid!" Han snapped at the man's retreating as he steadied Leia.

It was Mara who recognized the retreating figure first. "Fel?" She called out, but her voice didn't contain Han's angry accusation. "Has Jaina's condition changed?" She was surprised that he was heading in the opposite direction of the med bay. She remembered her brief conversation with Jaina about Jag and she had honestly expected Jag to refuse to leave Jaina's side until she was better.

The young Chiss-trained Colonel froze when he heard Jaina's name. He turned around slowly, "I don't know, Master Jade," he said acidly, "Perhaps you should ask Zekk," he added icily.

Before Mara could ask him another question, he turned around quickly and walked away without any further explanation.

"What was that all about," Han asked bewildered.

"I have no idea," Mara replied quietly. She resisted the temptation to add that whatever was going on there, she most definitely didn't have a good feeling about it.

============================================================================ ==============================================

Leia, Luke and Mara sensed Jaina's emotions even before they reached her. The emotions that were pouring off of her were impossible to miss. Pain filled the air, but it was emotional pain, not physical. Mara quickened her pace abruptly. She was the first to enter the room where Jaina was being treated. She stopped almost immediately, realizing abruptly that they had walked into the middle of an argument between Kyp, Jaina and Zekk.

Kyp was facing Jaina, while Zekk hung back in the corner, looking stunned and confused as if he wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Mara felt pretty much the same way. When she had left this room less than half an hour ago, Jaina had been lying quietly on the bunk resting and Zekk had been watching over her from the corner. The only reason that he hadn't been out helping with the repair efforts was the fact that he was still recovering from his own injuries.

"Get out of my way, Kyp," Jaina snapped.

"No," the Jedi Master said calmly, but firmly. Mara decided that he was most likely suicidal at the moment. He would have to be to challenge Jaina the way he did, especially when she was that furious with him. "Don't do this just because Fel is leaving."

For a moment Mara thought that what Kyp had said might actually reach Jaina. It didn't. "This has nothing to do with J-Fel," the slight hesitation over the man in question's name was the only indication that what Jaina was saying might not be entirely true.

Still Mara couldn't quite believe that Jag was leaving. She had seen how furious he was, yes, but Jag didn't seem to be the type to run away over a disagreement. Mara wondered what had happened between the time she had last seen Jaina and Jag had run into Leia in the corridor.

"If you remember, Master Durron," Jaina drawled his name out with cool, mocking sarcasm, "There is much more to the galaxy, than Colonel Fel, such as the Yuuzhan Vong invasion." The slightest quiver in her hand as she reached for the blaster and holster sitting on the table next to her, and the bead of sweat trickling down her forehead were the only indications that Jaina had received treatment for severe poisoning a few hours earlier. "As Twin Suns leader, I've been gone too long. I need to get back to Mon Calamari and back into the fighting." Her voice became a little grimmer and she stated harshly, "I lost two more of my pilots and Fel's absence will mean that I'll have three new holes to fill in my squadron. I'll need to bring their replacements up to speed." She glanced over towards her family, acknowledging them for the first time.

The hollowness in her niece's eyes caught Mara by surprise. There was none of the fire in Jaina's eyes that she had expected to see. It was disconcerting. Some people would blame it on Jaina's recent illness, somehow Mara thought she knew better.

Jaina's gaze settled on Ben's clear blue eyes, but her reassurances were directed at her parents. "I'll spend the time in hyperspace in a healing trance. By the time I get to Mon Cal, I'll be fine. Wedge won't let me fly if I'm not fit." Luke was the only person who's eyes she met even briefly as she spoke and she directed her last sentence at him. "I'll try to contact Lando and Karrde discreetly about the repairs that will be needed here."

Luke nodded, but a worried frown was etched into his features. Han started to launch into a series of parental protests, but broke off abruptly as Leia squeezed his arm sharply. With nothing more than a nod, Jaina was slipping out of the room.


	23. Say, What?!?

Five Years Later

The small barren moon slid into view, hanging in space in a sharp contrast to Mon Calamari's beautiful blue brilliance. An instant later the squadron of x-wings was already slipping past it. Even in the openness of space, they flew in a sharp precise formation that alluded to their status as one of the top squadrons in the Galaxy.

"Control to Twin Suns Leader, you have the all clear to proceed to the Chimaera."

Twin Suns Leader grimaced tightly and replied shortly, "Acknowledged, Twin Suns is preceding."

Without excessive instructions, showing the ease of long practice, Twin Suns flew towards the much larger Star Destroyer. At one time, working with the Imperial Remnant, flying with them, or even opening talks with them had been a very tense prospect. Now, today, it was almost common place, at least for the pilots of Twin Suns Squadron and other squadrons like them.

As the Yuuzhan Vong war had continued, turning into a prolonged bloodbath, Galactic Alliance and Imperial forces had begun to slowly work together side by side in some areas of the war. Twin Suns was one of the squadrons with the most frequent interaction with the Imperials. It was a well known fact that for the past year, Twin Suns had spent more time staging missions off of Imperial ships and bases than they had from Galactic Alliance strongholds. It was certainly unusual, even for these times of greater cooperation, but Twin Suns was also on of the most successful squadrons against the Vong.

With the ease of familiarity the squadron settled onto the deck and immediately began to climb out of their fighters. By the time that the routine maintenance personnel had reached their x-wings, the Galactic Alliance pilots were already standing formally at attention in front of their ships. The formality was another necessary concession to working with the Imperials, and one that at times, Jaina hadn't been happy to make.

In the years that followed their first interactions with the Imperials, though, Jaina had come to accept it, using it and working within the Imperial system whenever it was beneficial and discarding the rules- Galactic Alliance or Imperial- whenever the situation called for it.

Jaina waited non-pulsed as the aide that she had been expecting welcomed her. "Colonel Solo, welcome back to the Chimaera. I'm sure your squadron remembers their way around?"

The question was perfunctory at best. Twin Suns had last been stationed aboard the Star Destroyer less than two months before. Jaina nodded curtly, trying futilely to rush through the courtesies. She already knew what Temm's next question would be. It was always the same. Today she had no patience for it.

"If your squadron is settled in, Grand Admiral Pelleaon would like to speak with you."

Jaina didn't bother to respond. If she didn't want to speak with the Grand Admiral, she wouldn't have come. She turned back to her squadron instead. "You know the rules. Respect the customs and laws of the Imperial Remnant. Don't cause an intergalactic incident over the last glass of gizzer ale. No armed fights. Don't win more than two months pay from the Imperials in any form of gambling." She emphasized it pointedly, knowing that her people had repeatedly violated that rule.

She stifled a snort of amusement at that thought. She had been forced to create that rule when Pelleaon had come to her, concerned over the fact that a significant and constantly rising portion of his crew were withdrawing pay more than three or four months in advance to gamble against the Twin Suns personnel and were loosing.

"That's all," she added curtly, "Briefing room, tomorrow morning. You'll be notified of the time later." She paused for a beat. "Dismissed."

==================================================================

She didn't need Temm to show her the way, but she followed the woman anyway. They stopped in front of a door and Temm stepped aside quickly, without a word or so much as a glance at Jaina. Nothing the woman was doing could be said to be unprofessional, but her voice had developed a cold, harsh edge that Jaina hadn't heard before. Not that she blamed her. Too much had happened the last time that Jaina had been stationed aboard the Chimaera. "The Grand Admiral is waiting for you."

Jaina nodded, her thanks, although she really didn't feel thankful. She just wanted to know what was going on and why Twin Suns ha been pulled away from their uncompleted mission to come here. She palmed the door open and stepped into the office without further invitation. The door slid shut behind her as she quickly scanned the room for Pelleaon. Today he was behind his desk, sorting through a stack of datacards. He looked up attentively when Jaina came in. He set down the datacard that he was examining and gestured to the chair in front of his desk.

"Grand Admiral," she said with a nod of acknowledgement as he leaned back slightly in his seat.

"Please," he said calmly, "drop the formalities, Jaina. We've certainly worked together enough."

Jaina smiled, but it was more the warning of a predator than an indicator of happiness. Ignoring his comment, and still smiling, she asked bluntly, "Why was my squadron pulled from our mission and sent here, Gilad?"

Used to her blunt ways, the Grand Admiral didn't even blink at her statement. He understood it and in some small part, shared the sentiment. He had actually come to respect the petite Jedi woman as they fought together. She had courage and would stand up for what she thought was the best course of action when all of his subordinates would have long since backed down. She had the talent of a natural born leader and the skills to complement that. Jaina had the discipline of a Jedi Knight balanced and the determination of a Rebel Pilot all channeled with a determination to fight and win.

It was an intensity and drive that he hadn't even seen in Thrawn. He knew that her drive and fierce intensity to fight the Vong, worried some and even scared others. He respected it and was more than willing to work with her, so long as her drive to kill the Yuuzhan Vong didn't work against her. So far it hadn't. Jaina was reckless, but she had the skills to back her amazing feats up, and her pilots followed her with a loyalty that was second to none. Some things about the young woman did worry him, though. She had proven herself capable of making hard decision in very little time. He only hoped that making the hard decisions, being ruthless with the fate of people- his or hers- hadn't become too easy for the Jedi warrior. He was old enough to remember the days of her grandfather, Darth Vader, in the Imperial Navy.

Pelleaon would return her blunt honesty, with honesty of his own, though. It was the least he could do for the moment. "In a week, representatives of most of the Galaxy's remaining major powers will be meeting on Bastion. Rumors are coming in through several intelligence networks that the Vong are preparing an attack on Bastion. As one of the best and most prominent squadrons, it was decided to recall Twin Suns for this."

Her face morphed into a look of brief frustration followed by a lethal, eerie calm. "They won't attack, Gilad," she said sharply. "We both know that. The Vong are strong, but they can't afford to waste the soldiers of ships that they have on an ultimately futile offensive like this. You have to know that and so do the other military leaders." Her brown eyes flashed and she suppressed a harsh laugh. "The politicians are going to get us all killed."

He could see her mind working, calculating this and that quickly. Even barely in her twenties, Jaina had become one of the best military minds that they currently had. Pelleaon was waiting for Jaina to disobey her orders completely and return to her previous mission. When she didn't he wasn't entirely surprised. Jaina Solo was very rarely predictable.

"My squadron is always fit, ready for anything, but pushing too hard for too long can be very dangerous. If this gives them a slight break, then good. I don't like it, but we'll stay for now, Gilad, and if the Vong do come, we'll make them sorry that they ever came to Bastion."

He was surprised at his momentary surge of relief. Gilad claimed no perceptions of the Force, but this rumor- something about it wanted to make him take it seriously. He had learned much from Thrawn, and from his own years as a commander, he knew better than to dismiss his instincts. Pelleaon stood politely as Jaina rose, "Good to have you back on board, Colonel."

For the first time since she had come aboard, Jaina smiled at him genuinely. In a strange way she had come to respect and even admire the Grand Admiral, at least as much as he respected her, she sensed. She suspected that if she died, Pelleaon might actually be sad at her loss. It was almost a strange thought.

As he bowed slightly in the usual formal Imperial style and she returned it sketchily, she looked piercingly at him and said dryly, "Thank you, Admiral," her smile was sharp, "It's good to be back on board." She shook her head slightly, "I never thought I would one day say that about flying off of the flagship of the Imperial fleet."

His lips twisted into a half grin, half-grimace, as she stepped towards the door. "Colonel," he said sharply, as she pulled it open, "As I said a moment ago, I am glad that you're back aboard Chimaera, however," his voice was low and warned of a seriousness that his earlier friendliness had belied, "If there is a repeat of the incident that occurred the last time that Twin Suns was aboard, you will never work with any Imperial personnel again."

Jaina's eyes darkened with fury, but she managed to bite back her furious response, limiting herself to a curt nod. She exploded out into the corridor and began the long walk to the quarters that she would be sharing. With the Chimaera already flying with a full complement of Imperial fighters, it meant that all Twin Suns pilots, including Jaina, were sharing quarters. In the past, Jaina had shared quarters with Miat Temm.

It had originally been done in the interest of eliminating as much conflict as possible between the Galactic Alliance and Imperial personnel. Miat had been one of the few Imperials that wouldn't be uncomfortable with Jaina's Force skills, mainly because she possessed them herself. It was an odd attitude for the woman to have, but Miat had taken advantage of the situation to learn as much about her Force skills from Jaina as she could. She wanted to be able to take advantage of all of the skills that she possessed should the need arise. Despite a few personality conflicts and the typical Imperial/Rebel jibbing, the two women had actually worked well enough together.

After what had happened, Jain wondered if Miat would have requested to share her quarters with another member of the squadron. It was yet another reason why Jaina hadn't wanted Twin Suns to accept this mission. There was no way that she would be able to sleep that night, she knew that. Twin Suns might be a very successful squadron, but even they had their failures. Their last mission off of the Chimaera had been one such incident.

Unknowingly two of the Chimaera's TIE squadrons had been slowly and discreetly filled with undercover Peace Brigaders. When the two squadrons along with Twin Suns and another half squadron of TIE's were dropped off to ambush a Vong convoy, it was them not the Vong that were ambushed.

The loyal half-squadron of TIE's hadn't stood a chance. In an ambush their superior maneuverability did nothing to compensate for their lack of shielding. They were gone in the first volley of the fight. Jaina's pilots had only faired a little bit better. The Vong had brought in a larger vessel with sufficient dovin basals to act as an interdiction field. She had been forced to make a split second decision at that moment. Jaina had chosen to scatter her squadron outward in a seemingly random manner. Twin Suns, even with the assistance of the Rogues or the Spikes would have been had pressed to win the engagement against the two squadrons of TIE's and swarms of skips. It had been a virtual free for all. Her only orders: get to hyperspace to deliver a warning to Pelleaon.

Her pilots had done the best that they could, but less than half of her squadron had survived to return to the Chimaera. When her much diminished squadron had reverted to realspace where the Chimaera was waiting, the situation had only gotten worse.

Twin Suns had limped towards the Star Destroyer, some of the x-wings barely capable of maneuvering with severely injured pilots. Jaina had been one of the pilots with the fewest injuries and she had already been certain that she had at least two fractured ribs. The reality of the situation had unfolded when Pelleaon himself had spoken to Jaina over the frequency that was usually reserved for the person acting as the Controller.

He had ordered her to stand down and do as they were ordered. The Vong had managed to gain control of several key portions of the ship and were literally holding the entire crew of the Chimaera hostage. Pelleaon had been attempting to deal with the situation himself. She had known with some Jedi sense- the same senses that had deserted her for the first par of the mission- that whatever Pelleaon tried would fail. She had seen the Vong capture the ship, forcing it to take them to Bastion and the destruction that would be rained down upon that world with the flick of switch. Jaina had seen it all in an instant, not in the form of a Force vision, but in the certainty of the Jedi danger sense. She had known exactly what had to be done in the same way that Jedi knew exactly where to put their lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster bolts.

She had acted swiftly, ignoring the Grand Admiral's orders. When it was over the Vong were dead, and the Imperial Star Destroyer, flagship of its fleet, boasted several smoking craters. Among the Vong dead, were two hundred and twenty six dead Imperials. The number had been burned into her mind, their faces swimming before her eyes in her dreams. Jaina had been cleared of any charges concerning the incident, but it was something that would haunt her until her death. People called her reckless and ruthless behind her back. She ignored the whispers and the outright accusations. She tried to forget the fact that Miat's boyfriend had been among those killed. She tried to forget the anger that had been her only shield from the pain, for the past months. She tried to forget everything, but she knew she wouldn't be so lucky.


	24. Things Begin To Happen

The fitness center onboard the Chimaera was busy when Jaina entered. Twin Suns had just returned to the Chimaera an hour ago. They had been assigned to escort duty for all of the major arriving guests. Jaina had seen representatives from the Smuggler's Alliance, the Mon Calamarians, the Corellians and a wide variety of other species come into the system, and that was just during Twin Suns' shift. She had ground her teeth in frustration almost the entire time. Any halfway competent trainee squadron could have done just as well. No other squadron- Galactic Alliance or Imperial- had the experience and unique blend of necessary skills to pull off the mission that her squadron had been involved in.

She stalked coldly through the training area, barely acknowledging the greetings or the harsh angry whispers that came her was as she moved towards the small knots of people gathered in the sparring area. A small part of her mind registered the exhaustion that she was feeling. She couldn't remember the last time that she had actually slept for more than a few stolen hours in a cramped cockpit. The night before she hadn't slept- as she had known that she wouldn't- even before Miat had returned to their shared quarters.

She had remained frozen and silent in the unlit room, waiting for Miat to speak to say anything, to curse at her, start a brawl, or to simply kick her out. Instead the other woman did nothing, she ignored Jaina. It was as if she didn't even exist. Her emotions through the Force told an entirely different story, however. It was a tumultuous mixture of anger, grief and steely resolve that was painfully present in the Force even with Jaina's shields fully in place. It was also more than she could take. Without a word, she rose from her bunk and left, pulling on her flight suit as she headed towards the door. The least she could do was leave Miat in peace without the constant reminder of her presence.

She had wandered down to the docking bay where her x-wing was being kept, and done some routine maintenance work and then made her way up to the small cramped office that she had been given for her use. It had been the early hours of the morning before she had managed to drift into an uncomfortable sleep at her desk. Still Jaina was restless. She needed a distraction, to hone the skills that were being dulled by the mind numbing work of escort duty. Surely she could find someone to spar with her, here. Maybe she could find someone who could exhaust her to the point that she could fall into a deep dreamless sleep, unaware even of Miat's presence. It wasn't likely.

============================================================================ ====

Kyp Durron eased through the quickly forming crowds until he was close enough to the center of the crowd to se the current occupants of the sparring match. Jaina and a Noghri. It was more or less where he had expected to find Jaina on her off duty hours. He was worried about her. He had, in fact, been worried about her for quite some time. Kyp wanted to talk her, but first he had to convince her to actually be in the same room with him. They had gone their separate ways after their argument on Shelter, and now, five years later, they had yet to speak beyond the necessary courtesies. That didn't mean that he hadn't kept an eye on what was happening to Jaina, but it was impossible to get close to her. It was rumored that she rarely even spoke to her family.

Kyp had eventually reformed his Dozen, but this time it was a squadron that willingly flew under the authority of the Jedi Council. His squadron was just one of the several very high profile squadrons that had been recalled for this assignment. He, like most of the other squadron leaders, was chafing under the idiocy of the politicians. Unlike the others, however, he wasn't entirely upset about the event itself. If it succeeded, it could unite the galaxy in one of the most pivotal alliances in years and change the balance of power in the galaxy- militarily at least- in a way that hadn't occurred since the battle of Endor and the massive defeat that signaled the beginning of the end of the Empire.

Kyp shot a glance at the woman standing next to him, noticing her for the first time. He didn't do a double take, it would have been un-Jedi Masterly, but he was surprised to see her there. Esmen Tracell was one of the Twin Suns' pilots that had accompanied he, Fel and Jaina as they had escorted Mara and Callista to Shelter.

Shifting his stance slightly in the crowd, so that he moved fractionally closer to her, Kyp asked quietly, "How's she doing?" Kyp suspected that he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear what Esmen had to say. If she had been with Jaina's squadron for that long, she had to have developed some sense of her commanding officer.

"She's on her third opponent right now," she said with more than a hint of respect. Kyp noticed the way that the veteran pilot had expertly deflected his question. She had known what he was asking and she had purposefully evaded his question. It was nice to see the woman's loyalty to Jaina, but Kyp wanted the true answer to his question.

"The Noghri lasted the longest," she commented, before he could speak and Kyp noticed abruptly that the fight had ended- with the Noghri lying on the floor- while he had been preoccupied. "He actually got in a few blows. None of the others even stood a chance."

Both of them flinched as the Noghri limped away from the sparing ring. The Noghri were renowned throughout the galaxy for their fighting skills. If Jaina had beaten him that badly, then she was definitely not in a good mood.

Esmen stood in silence next to him for a few moments and then shot a cautious look at the Jedi Master. She didn't really know him, other than by reputation, but she remembered him vaguely from the brief period of time that they had both been in Twin Suns. The fact that the Jedi Master had very protective of Jaina- or at least as much as she would let him be- was well known.

"Will she be okay, sir? She's been pushing herself and the rest of the squadron harder than I've ever seen her push before."

Kyp gave her a piercing look, which Esmen barely managed not to flinch back from. He glanced away from her a moment later, focusing back on Jaina and then shook his head minutely, "No, she's fine...for now, I think. She's just upset like all of the other squadron leaders because we were pulled from our missions." Kyp started to move away from Esmen. She had told him with her question, all that he needed to know for the moment. It had only reinforced the fact that he needed to talk to Jaina, if one of her pilot's was worried about her.

Esmen's next words stopped him immediately. "That's not it, Master Durron. With all due respect, the Great One's been like this for the past five years. Since Colonel Fel..."

Kyp spun back around, cutting her off in mid sentence. His glare alone was enough to silence her and when he spoke, his voice was low and warning. "Do you want to log a formal protest about the Goddess's behavior?"

Without hesitation, Esmen shook her head. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her today. She knew better than to ask stupid questions and besides she had no desire to report Jaina. She was one of the best squadron leaders that she had ever served under and Jaina did everything in her power to keep her pilots safe. In return the only things that Jaina demanded was her pilots' loyalty and that they perform to the best of their abilities.

"Then stay out of it," Kyp snapped. "It's not the place of a mere mortal to worry about the Goddess." His tone was sharp, but Esmen thought that there was something more behind it. She watched as Master Durron cut roughly through the crowd towards a couple that she though she recognized as Talon Karrde and Shada D'ukal. The Jedi master was right about one thing, though; it wasn't her responsibility to worry about Jaina. She just hoped that she didn't ever come to regret flying under Jaina Solo's command.

================================================================

Jaina watched the Noghri in front of her stagger back and followed up her last blow with a sharp kick to the stomach. It was a blow that never would have connected had he been in top form and she anyone but a Jedi. Even for a Jedi, a Noghri was a difficult opponent. She sketched a half-bow in the direction of the young warrior and turned away. He had been the most difficult opponent that she had faced that day, but he hadn't been as much of a challenge as she had hoped. Jaina wondered idly if there were any other Jedi on board the Chimaera. She hadn't yet had the opportunity to see if any other Galactic Alliance or all-Jedi squadrons were flying with the Chimaera.

A lightsaber duel, requiring far more of her concentration than sparring would be much better. She was turning away to walk over to where she had left her uniform jacket and the datacard that would contain all of the pertinent information about Chimaera's currently assigned squadrons when she felt a muffled surge of emotion through the Force. It was almost as if she were feeling it herself. She brushed away the thought distractedly, focused on her original intention, before it registered.

The surge of emotion that she had felt so intensely wasn't her own, it was her Partner's. If she had been speaking at the moment the word would have been a sneer. It also meant that Kyp had to be near by. It had been a long time since she had kept the bond between them open. A Force bond such as theirs wasn't something that was easily broken, but Jaina had become an expert at keeping him out. It was better for both of them in the long run. Dangerous was far too weak of a word to describe her job, and her life. The fewer emotional attachments and distractions that she had, the better. Still Kyp seemed upset and as a fellow squadron leader, she should probably go and see what the problem was. Besides if it pertained to the situation surrounding this mission, then she would need to deal with it eventually anyway.


	25. Dark-Haired, Green-Eyed Men, Part II

Kyp felt her come up behind him, before he saw her. No matter how much Jaina tried to cut him out of their Force bond, her presence always seemed to stand out to him in the Force. He was undeniably worried about her. Kyp had heard about the incident with the Chimaera several months earlier. He ha wanted to talk to Jaina immediately, to hear what had happened from Jaina's mouth. The reports of the incident that he had heard, worried him.

He couldn't say what he would have done in the same situation, though. The reports that he had read from the surviving members of Twin Susns were barely coherent, but those who did remember it clearly stated in their reports that Jaina had remained almost impossibly calm the entire time. She ha clearly heard Pellaeon's orders and she had just as clearly disobeyed them. Kyp understood some of Jaina's position. If she obeyed Pellaeon then she would have lost her only chance to stop the Vong onboard. If Pellaeon had failed then, billions of beings could have died from an attack by a Star Destroyer that they thought was on their side.

Logically, on paper, Jaina's actions made sense, but Kyp knew of very few commanders who could have made that call. What worried him even more than what she had done was her frame of mind. If she had done it in a fit of vengeful rage to avenge the deaths of her brothers or her squadron mates, it would have been better than an engraved invitation to the Dark side.

"Kyp," Jaina said monosyllabically. She turned towards the man and woman standing next to him. "Talon," she said with a quick nod, "Shada. I didn't think I would see either of you here." The last thing she had heard had suggested that Karrde would be tied up in the Elrood sector for the next few weeks. Karrde might not have the resources to constantly take on the Vong, but he was more than capable of harassing the Peace Brigade to the point that the unofficial bounty on his head was one of the largest in the Galaxy.

Talon smiled smoothly. "I didn't expect to see you back aboard the Chimaera, either, Colonel Solo."

Jaina shrugged, brushing Karrde's knowing comment aside, but Kyp could feel the words hit her, before her emotions were quickly stifled. "Not my choice, Talon, I'm just following orders." She looked at Karrde a moment longer and then she shot a glance at the crowd. No one was particularly close to them or appeared to be eaves dropping. "Pellaeon mentioned a rumor going around about the Vong attacking here. That's why Twin Suns was pulled off of our assignment and reassigned here." She shot a guarded smile at the older man, "I'm sure that this isn't new to you. Can you provide me with anymore information than what I already have?"

Karrde looked at her steadily for a long moment and Jaina had the feeling that somehow he was weighing the situation in his mind, almost testing her. Then suddenly his expression or at least the look in his eyes cleared. Karrde's sabacc face never changed. She could feel him make his decision.

"Is this question coming from you or the Grand Admiral? I'm only asking," he clarified, "So that I know who to bill. I know longer have an agreement with the Empire."

Jaina grinned. "I'm asking strictly on my own behalf. Depending upon what you have to say, I might pass the information onto Pellaeon, but for the moment I simply want to know what, if anything, that you've heard, so that Twin Suns can be as prepared as possible."

Karrde nodded knowingly, "I haven't heard specifically that the Vong or the Peace Brigade are planning to move against Bastion, but I can confirm that the Vong are massing fleets in the Yavin System. There's also been a significant increase in their activity in several sectors deeper into Vong space."

Jaina smirked slightly, "I can confirm that activity," She paused and cocked her head slightly, "but I can't explain the situation. The information about that is on a need to know basis only."

"Yes, most of your missions these days are classified, aren't they Goddess?" Talon asked blandly.

Jaina nodded, but before she could reply her comm. link blared loudly, signaling an incoming call. "Goddess here," Jaina said quickly, half turning away from the group Kyp, Karrde and Shada. Not all, but a significant portion of the information that she dealt with on a daily basis was classified. Only officials with the highest clearance knew the details about most of her missions. It was a strange way to operate, and Jaina had at first hated to operate in the shadows. In the end though, she had realized the benefits of the strategy. It kept her squadron protected from most information leaks and enabled her squadron to take on missions that were necessary to the war effort, but generally frowned upon by the galaxy at large.

"Solo," the voice said sharply, "You need to come back to our quarters. Admiral Pellaeon left a holocube with highly sensitive information for you here. I'm under orders not to leave this room until you come back and view the information," her voice was curt and sharp. Jaina could tell that it was an effort for Miat to even speak to her civilly.

"I'll be right there," she said simply. Both women flicked off their comm. links without pausing to say good bye to one another. "I have to go," she said shortly to Karrde and Kyp. The last thing that she wanted to do was have a conversation with Miat.

Karrde accepted her statement without surprise, "Of course, Great One." He paused, "I'll send you a data card with all of the information that I have about the Vong's latest movements."

"Thank you, Karrde," she said genuinely. She might be upset, but there was no need to impolite to Karrde. The old smuggler and information broker was famous for the quality of his information

She turned to leave, but stopped abruptly a hand closed firmly around her arm. Jaina looked up in surprise and found herself looking up at Kyp. The Jedi Master's eyes were filled with worry and she thought that she saw a tinge of anger in them. "We need to talk, Goddess," he said forcefully.

"Not now," she said bitingly, and not ever, she added silently. Years ago she had been close to Kyp, close enough to confide in him. Those days were long gone. Kyp hadn't been her confidant in years and she wasn't about to start confiding in him again. She didn't have time for it. Confiding in Kyp wouldn't help her fly better or kill Vong more efficiently, it would only distract her from what she needed to be focusing on, the war. Jaina snatched her arm roughly out of his grip and walked away.

"We will talk, Jaina," he called after her. She bit back the urge to throw a scathing reply at him and walked away without a backwards glance.

=========================================================================

Jaina keyed the door to her shared quarters open and took a deep breath. There is no emotion; There is peace. The thought surprised her so much that she almost froze mid-step as she entered the room. She ended up taking an awkward half-step forward. It was the first line of the Jedi Code.

At some points in her life, that code had been as familiar to her as her own name, as familiar to her as the vague but constant mental touch of her twin brother's Force presence. So much had changed since then. Now she was more likely to hear people call her Goddess, Great One, or Colonel, than her actual name. Her brother's- both of them- despite whatever her Mother claimed, were dead. And now the Jedi Code was totally unfamiliar to her, like a very alien thought.

"If you're done taking your own sweet time, Colonel Solo, I'm already late for my weekly Sabacc game."

Jaina actually smiled genuinely at the woman's last statement. Miat was one of the best Imperial Sabacc players aboard the Chimaera, even without her Force skills. Miat and Jaina had at one time, been well renowned for their Sabacc games. Neither held an advantage over the other because of their Force skills. Their games had always been...memorable events that drew large portions of the ships off duty personnel. Jaina and Miat had been friendly rivals in those games. By the time that Twin Suns had begun to frequently base their operations off of the Chimaera, a smaller group of the braver sabacc players aboard the Star Destroyer had joined them.

"Has Brance gotten any better?" Jaina asked with another smile. They had both taken the young native of ?Yaga Minor? under their wing at least as far as sabacc had been concerned. He had been young, practically a fresh recruit from one of Yaga Minor's isolated farming communities. Before her last mission aboard the Chimaera, they had been teaching him all of the inns and outs of sabacc. His innocent looks had already provided him with an excellent sabacc face that took many unsuspecting people by surprise.

Miat's reply made her blood run cold. "At sabacc, you mean?" She shrugged coldly, "I wouldn't know." She met Jaina's eyes for the first time with a cold glare, "Brance was so badly injured in you-a friendly fire incident that he was discharged and sent back to Yaga Minor."

She refused to look away, but she visibly flinched as Miat added, "Even if you destroyed his life, at Brance is still alive."

"Miat," Jaina said softly, "I'm sorry for what happened to Raat-" The Force blow hit her squarely across the face before Jaina even felt it coming.

"Don't even talk about him, Jaina. What happened wasn't an accident. You purposefully fired on the Chimaera, knowing that beings would die, and not just the Vong. You knew it and did it anyway. You murdered the one man who had grown up like me in the Empire and accepted the fact that I had Force powers. He loved me." Her voice had lost some of its anger, and now it was almost pitying, or at least as pitying as someone could be when they despised the person that they were speaking to. "You crossed the line, Jaina and one day you will have to pay for that."

"Is that a threat, Miat," Jaina asked with almost curiosity. She would be surprised if Miat was threatening her. Jaina had almost been expecting it, really, if not from Miat then from someone else. She just wished Miat would do something though, instead of just stand there. People Jaina knew had died. She had lost friends, siblings, and a surrogate parent to the Vong, but she couldn't understand Miat's reaction. With the exception of this one moment, Miat had been indifferent towards Jaina. She couldn't understand Miat's reaction.

"What if I am, Solo?" Miat demanded. "Why shouldn't I threaten you? My boyfriend, my friends, Sith, some of the people that you claimed as friends are dead now, because of you. The thing that sickens me the most is that you seem indifferent to it all, indifferent to everything but killing Vong. Well, this time it wasn't the Vong that paid the price it was the people you were supposed to fighting side by side with, the people that you were supposed to be protecting. I thought that Jedi were supposed to protect the people; you just kill them." Miat sucked in a deep breath for the first time since she had started talking.

Jaina's comm. link broke the silence with a loud blare. "You're wrong, Miat," she said sharply, "I was protecting lives. I was protecting the lives of all of the billions of people who would have died if the Vong had captured the Chimaera."

Her comm. link chimed again. Both women continued to ignore it as Miat slowly walked closer to Jaina. When she was only about half of a meter away from Jaina, she suddenly seemed to understand something and Miat let you a short back of unhumorous laughter. "You weren't trying to save lives. You were scared, Jaina. You were scared to be blamed for the massacre of billions rather than as the poor young Jedi warrior who made a hard decision. If you had half of the attitude the founders of the Rebellion had, then you would have waited. You would have taken a chance on the long odds. You are Half-Corellian, after all. Instead you used ruthless tactics, that haven't been suggested or endorsed since Palpatine's rule. The Emperor would be proud of your start, Jaina."

"No." Jaina's response was cold, hard and definitive.

Miat could feel the anger, the pain, that was roiling with Jaina. The very feel of the air was changing with it. The air crackled with tension and neither woman even noticed as the familiar thuds of hurried footfalls neared their quarters. The resounding and quickly pounded blows on their door did catch their attention. With a quick gesture from Jaina, the door slid quickly open to reveal a red faced crewman.

"Grand Admiral Pellaeon-" The young man, frozen by the equally hostile looks directed at him, seemed to forget what he had been ordered to say.

Jaina's patience ran out first. "Is there a reason for you to be here," she said sharply. She didn't have time for any of this.

"Y-you weren't answering you comm. link, G-goddess." He spat it out quickly.

She looked at him in irritation. She had ignored her comm. link before and crewmen usually didn't run up to her to inform her of that fact. "And why are you informing me of the obvious, crewmen?"

His face turned and uncomfortable shade of red and Jaina could sense the mortification drifting off of him, not for himself, but for her. "Ma'am, Admiral Pellaeon's orders, Twin Suns was sent up for special escort duty. They've been waiting..." He trailed off, deciding that it might not be wise to further upset the already volatile goddess.

Jaina's attention, however, was no longer on him. "Sithspawn," she swore furiously. Pellaeon had to be upset at the delay and if her tardiness caused and intergalactic incident- She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she called her blaster and lightsaber to her, before she began a flat out run towards her x-wing.

============================================================================ ===

Jaina didn't even bother with a preflight check. Her x-wing was always maintained at its peak condition, always ready for a sudden takeoff. If it wasn't in top condition, heads would roll. She didn't wait for clearance from the traffic controller, either. Instead she launched her x-wing out of the Star Destroyer with as much speed behind her as she could manage in that space. Jaina immediately punched the power to her engines as she cleared the top of the Star Destroyer. She heard a muffled squawk of protest as she put her x-wing into a steep curving climb to avoid a small support craft. She rolled her x-wing away from two shuttle bearing diplomatic symbols as the shuttles approached the Chimaera. Jaina dove towards deep space and the coordinates for the rendevous with the party that they were escorting.

If she was lucky and she tested all of the modifications that she had ever added to her x-wing to their limits, then maybe she would reach her squadron before the incoming group of ships had a chance to regroup from the hyperspace jump.

Jaina quickly switched to a private comm. chanel. "Twin 5, report," she snapped. She knew that she shouldn't take how she was feeling out on the members of her squadron, but Esmen could take it. She had been flying with Jaina for a long time, for longer than the rest of Twin Suns current roster. Esmen was also Jaina's second-in-command, should anything happen to her during a fight.

"Nothing's going on yet, Great One. We've been sitting out here for about half of an hour and we haven't heard anything from them yet."

"Tried all of the frequencies," Jaina suggested perfunctorily, with a quick glance down at her threat boards to ascertain the size of the force in front of them. Little dots and big dots mingled as the task force reformed. The one thing Jaina did notice, even in her current state of mind, was the orderly, precise way that the ships all slipped back into the appropriate positions. This was a well trained and very capable fighting force.

Jaina shifted slightly in her pilot's seat as she studied the display and noted with irritation something jabbing into her thigh. With a sharp explicative of annoyance, Jaina quickly dug into her pockets and pulled out the offending holocube.

"We have contact, Goddess," Esmen'ts voice crackled in her ear. "They're hailing us on a general frequency."

Jaina double clicked an acknowledgement back at Esmen and switched channels. A dry voice, speaking a standard Basic dialect, poured into her speakers with a standard greeting. Jaina flipped back to the private chanel. "5, think you can handle this?"

Their was a beat of hesitation and a burst of surprise from the other woman, but she answered easily, "Of course, Great One."

"Good," Jaina said sharply. Esmen could handle this and she needed time- time to calm down from her conversation with Miat, to tuck all of the emotions that she couldn't use, carefully away and time to play the holocube of orders that Pellaeon had left for her. She switched her comm. channel back over to the general frequency so that she could keep an ear on what was happening in case Esmen needed help.

Jaina picked up the tiny holocube, turning it over in her hand. She wasn't ready to open it. Jaina could barely focus on what she was supposed to be doing. Miat's words were burning in her ears. What Miat had said was absolutely not true. She took the anger she felt and molded it into a cold, hard shield against any uncertainty. Miat was grieving and she didn't understand that Jaina's actions had been absolutely necessary.

Jaina reached forwards to activate the holocube and took another quick glance at her threat board. A squadron of fighters were taking their places around the larger ships and Jaina automatically calculated the formation that Twin Suns would take for their escort. Jaina relaxed imperceptibly as Esmen called out the same formation that she would have and then goosed her thrusters forward to take the lead position.

She froze as she heard the end of Esmen's reply. "...Heading," Esmen rattled off a string of letters and numbers and then added, "Welcom back, Spike Lead, the Known regions haven't been the same without you, Colonel Fel."


	26. The Dance

It was, Jaina decided as she eased her x-wing down onto the duracrete landing field, definitely not her day. She hadn't had any contact with Jag since he had left Shelter in the wake of Callista's attack and so far she had managed to avoid him. The full Chiss diplomatic envoy was actually staying on Bastion, leaving their large ships up in orbit. Spike Squadron had been dispatched down to the surface with the diplomats and now Twin Suns had been ordered planetside as part of the Chimaera's usual rotation of squadrons.

It had the advantage of allowing her to momentarily escape the currently unpleasant confines of the Star Destroyer, but at the same time, it gave her a new obstacle to avoid. Whatever she and Fel might have once had was long over. He had been the one to leave without so much as allowing her to explain that she had been hallucinating under the effects of amphistaff poisoning. And now she certainly didn't want to restart whatever they'd had. She no longer found Fel appealing. He was still handsome, but the only words that came to mind now weren't mysterious, or intriguing as they had been at one time, but rather bland and boring.

Jaina almost smiled. It was actually probably a good thing that he had left. His absence had left her with one less distraction from the war against the Vong. It had been what she needed, then and now. Now unfortunately, she would have to interact with him. Twin Suns had been placed into the planetary rotation with purpose. They would be required to attend the formal reception on Bastion. It would be almost impossible to avoid Jag then.

She sighed as she stepped out of her x-wing. Having a small on-site reception for a squadron of fighter pilots was one of the most ridiculous things that Jaina had ever heard of. It had also brought to her attention one of the scariest things to ever happen outside of an all out Vong attack. It was the dress version of a Galactic Alliance pilot's flight suite and it was even worse than the usual dress uniforms. It was the last thing that Jaina needed to top off her day. She almost hoped for a sudden emergency. Anything to her and her pilots out of this. It was the politicians job to politic, not the pilots. They should be out there fighting or honing their skills for the next fight. It was the only option.

============================================================================

Jedi Master Kyp Durron surged through the crowded reception area. His cloak, made or a red material so dark that it bordered on black, seemed to billow out and snap behind him as he walked, despite the fact that he wasn't walking fast enough to create that effect and the total lack of any wind in the large chamber. With a half concerned and mostly upset scowl on his face, the Jedi Master made an intimidating presence. It had been less than an hour since he had heard that Jagged Fel was back in Known Space. It was an unneeded complication in an already delicate situation.

His Dozen, Jaina's Twin Suns and Fel's Spike's, as three of the most high profile squadrons in the Bastion system would be required to work together. These days Jaina didn't seem to be happy with anyone and despite the way that she had seemed to totally forget about Jag, Kyp knew better. He remembered when the two of them had been together and happy and he also remembered feeling Jaina's emotion's through their Force bond. What she had felt had been real and true. The thing that was making Kyp so worried was the knowledge of how stubborn both Jaina and Jag were and the memory of some of their past clashes. Now those fights would be fueled with genuine animosity rather than concealed emotions as they had been in the past. That was why Kyp was searching for Jag among the crowd.

He had really wanted to talk with Jaina first, but the Goddess was extremely skilled at making herself unavailable and this reception wasn't the place for his conversation with her, especially when that conversation was likely to get violent and destructive. He had a feeling that Jaina wasn't really interested in hearing what he had to say. Not, however, that he had any intention of letting that stop him when the time came.

"Fel," Kyp said quietly, pulling himself out of his determined thoughts as he stepped up behind the Chiss trained Colonel.

Fel's reaction was polite and controlled- everything that Kyp had come to expect from him. "Master Durron, it's been a long time." He paused, "I'm assuming that we'll be working together again at least while the Chiss envoy is here on Bastion."

Kyp nodded, "For the moment, yes. It depends upon what your people chose to do, during the conference, as to what will happen in the future."

The younger man nodded, "The representatives of the Ruling Houses have come with open minds. They are interested," his attention wavered and Kyp followed his gaze to see Jaina and the rest of Twin Suns making their entrance. Jag's hesitation was only momentary and with only a slight hitch he continued speaking about the Chiss leaders who were currently on Bastion.

Kyp ignored whatever else Jag was saying and focused on him with a knowing smirk. It was all the proof that Kyp needed. Fel still had feelings for Jaina. Kyp was a Jedi Master, supposedly above petty emotions. He was, however, not immune to the desire to make Jag suffer for what he had put Jaina through. Jag was just as much to blame for the ending of their relationship as Jaina was. His reaction had always seemed out of character and extreme to Kyp.

He and Fel had once, for a very short time, been rivals for Jaina's affections. In the end, for Jaina's sake, they had gotten past their rivalry. They might not have been friends, but they had respected the other's abilities enough to allow them to work together efficiently. It was the only reason why Kyp was allowing Jag to stand there unharmed. Esmen had been right, Jaina had unquestionable changed after Jag left. Kyp had given more credit than he deserved. At the time, he had thought that Jag knew Jaina better than to leave without considering that everything wasn't as it seemed. He had been wrong and instead, Jag had left without a backwards glance.

The Jedi Master leaned closer to Jag. "She's changed," he said in a low conversational voice. "She's not what she used to be."

Thrown by the sudden change in topic, Jag didn't respond for a moment. Jag didn't even pretend to not understand what Kyp was talking about. Instead he met Kyp's eyes and replied calmly. "Jaina is not the only person who has changed, Master Durron. I came back to the Known Regions because that was where my squadron was assigned. I am not here to make a fool of myself over Jaina Solo, again. Nor do I care about the fact that she has changed. Not," he added, with the same firm but almost emotionless voice that he had been using, "because hearing about how Jaina has changed or moved on would be too painful for me, but because it is of no concern to me. The only way in which I care about Jaina's well being is as a squadron leader who I will be working with- just as I would care about your well being." He shot one more look at Kyp and added with a hint of irritation, "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to uphold my duties as squadron leader." He turned into the crowd, and walked away, leaving Kyp with a hint of a scowl darkening his smirk.

He had been upset with Jag on Jaina's behalf, but he hadn't expected Jag's reaction. Jag wasn't a man who took big risks lightly and once he had made a decision, he stood by and it and didn't try to abandon it, if that decision produced some uncomfortable consequences. Getting involved with Jaina had been one of the largest risks that Jag had ever taken. Kyp hadn't thought that he would give up so easily. Any man would have had to be a fool to give up what Jag had with Jaina. Kyp hadn't thought Jag was a fool.

=========================================================================

The dark black hair, broken by a single startling splash of white, was what caught her eye as Jaina's partner, a middle aged diplomat from the Corporate Sector, whirled her around during their obligatory dance. The Corellian dance slowed into a more formal Alderanian waltz and Jaina got a better view of him. She noted with detachment the young blonde woman wearing a CEDF uniform, who was dancing with him and the few physical changes in him. If anything Jag looked leaner and a hint of stubble was visible, where he had once kept himself immaculately clean shaven. He still moved with the absolute confidence that she remembered. It seemed like he hadn't changed as much as she had.

The woman flashed Jag a smile that was dazzling even from where Jaina was halfway across the reception hall and then spoke to him lightly. Jaina missed an entire step of a dance that she had perfected at the age of eight, as he broke into laughter at whatever she had said. Jaina recovered quickly, ignoring her dance partner's comments.

Apparently Jag had changed, if he was laughing and flirting his way through a useless, diplomatic reception. The Jag that she had known would be railing at the ineffectiveness of the politicians and arguing against celebrating while there were still battles to be fought and people to protect. Taking a break was one thing, but neglecting one's duties for a party was another. Jaina wondered why she was suddenly so disappointed.


	27. The Fight

The surge of angry emotions in the Force was the first thing that had caught Jaina's attention and then she heard it- the unmistakable sounds of a fight. A lifetime of Jedi training or perhaps merely the Solo survival sense prompted her to step away from her dance partner, a four legged alien from a mid rim planet that she hadn't heard of before the evening. Jaina, however, would remember him and his race for quite some time after that evening. His homeworld was a large supplier of the munitions needed by Starfighter Command and Jaina was literally under orders to keep him happy. The downside of this was the fact that he had insisted on dancing and with two extra legs, he had always seemed to find a way to step on at least one of Jaina's feet at all times. The only reason she hadn't decked him yet, was that the Galactic Alliance truly did desperately need those munitions.

She couldn't have been happier to see the fight. It only took her a moment to pinpoint the location of it. What she saw surprised her and made her furious. Two pilots were literally coming to blows. Without hesitating, she stepped forward and inserted herself between them, pushing them apart without even bothering to call on the Force to do it. Jaina got her first good look at them a moment later, and felt her temper ratchet up a notch.

The angrier fighter who had tried to push back at her to get back to the other combatant was one of her newest recruits into Twin Suns. He was an excellent pilot, but he carried a chip on his shoulder the size of a Super Star Destroyer. His homeworld had been decimated under the rule of the Empire and crushed as it had just begun to thrive with the Vong invasion. Jaina had, had severe doubts about him, but had chosen him for the squadron anyway because of his piloting skills. She shoved him further back for good measure as she turned to face the other participant in the fight.

"Hutt slime," Jaina spat at no one in particular as she saw the young woman's CEDF uniform and the small patch on her upper arm the signified the squadron that she belonged to. The last thing that they needed was a conflict between the Galactic Alliance and the Chiss. She took a deep breath and then spat at both of them, "What in the nine Corellian Hells were you thinking? Pilots having a brawl at a diplomatic reception!"

Her pilot, Flight Officer Brantur, started to reply and she held up a hand sharply as several other pilots approached with Esmen among them. Jaina took her eyes off of the two pilots that she was dealing with and shot a glance at Esmen, snapping an order at her. "Go find Colonel Fel. Tell him that one of his pilots was involved in a fight."

"No, please," the woman spoke up for the first time, since Jaina had broken up the fight, "Please don't tell him."

Jaina almost smirked, "You should have thought about that before the fight," she glanced at the woman's rank insignia, "Lieutenant." She turned back to Brantur and waited. Unfortunately, she didn't have to wait long.

Jagged Fel's face was almost unreadable, barely showing a hint of emotion as he walked towards the group of pilots. He stopped in front of Jaina and shot a look at both of the pilots that were standing on either side of her. Jaina thought she had seen a flicker of emotion cross his face as he saw the other woman, but it was gone before she could be sure.

"Colonel Solo," he said formally, sketching a half bow at her as if they were total strangers.

She took her cue from him, "Colonel Fel," she crossed her arms over her chest and then started to gesture at the two pilots. Whatever she had been about to say left her mind a she finally met his eyes. For the first time in years, brown met green. Jaina almost flinched at the immediate connection that she felt between them. She blinked sharply and narrowed her eyes, dismissing the feelings as an echo of something that had once been, but no longer was, and finished the sentence that she had started, "One of your pilots and one of mine were fighting. I thought that you might want to be here when they explained the situation."

She didn't notice Jag's own reaction, not to her statement, but to what had happened. "Thank you, Colonel." His voice was calm and almost patronizingly polite as he asked, "Do you mind?"

She recognized the pretense of politeness, but she let it go for the moment. Jaina didn't want to drag this out any longer than necessary and besides the only thing worse than the two younger pilots fighting would be the two squadron leaders fighting. So with equal politeness, she nodded and said, "Of course."

He turned to the young Lieutenant with an expression that Jaina had both used and had, had used on her, frequently. It was that of a definitely displeased commanding officer. "What happened here, Lieutenant?"

Jaina sensed the young woman's flash of defiance as she faced her commanding officer. "Nothing...sir. The Flight Officer, here, just had a mistaken opinion that I took the liberty of correcting."

"Mistaken opinion," Brantur demanded, "It is not a mistaken opinion that my homeworld was destroyed and that the entire population of the city where my parents lived as children were massacred by a squadron of TIE fighters led by her father. It is not a matter of opinion that all of my parents' families were slaughtered and that my father was so severely injured that not even bacta and prosthetics could let him walk again."

"That's enough, Flight Officer," Jaina snapped. She wasn't certain about the incident that Brantur was referring to, but letting the two officers get into their argument again wouldn't be helpful. She could tell that the Lieutenant was ready to continue the argument with Brantur again, in defense of her father. Keeping a carefully eye on the Flight Officer, she glanced over at the other woman. "Who was your father, Lieutenant? Was he in the Imperial Navy?" It was likely that he had been at one point, given her Chiss association, but if he wasn't it would be the simplest way to end this fight.

The young woman's surprise was obvious and she shot a quick questioning glance at Jag. "My father was Baron Soontir Fel, Ma'am," she responded.

Jaina blinked at the woman and looked searchingly at her features. She couldn't resist the instinct to send a quick confirming glance at Jag. It figured. The last thing that Jaina needed was another Fel around. Jaina resisted the urge to sigh, and tried to recapture some of her long departed Jedi calm.

The war between the Empire and the New Republic had been over for more than a decade and even then Baron Fel had been a part of neither government. "It's Goddess, or Great One, Lieutenant, not Ma'am." She turned towards Brantur before Lieutenant Fel could speak. "And Brantur, whatever the Lieutenant's father might or might not have done, it is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with her, and although I am sympathetic to your loss, you should have behaved more like an officer regardless." Her tone of voice changed and she let some of the anger that she was feeling show. "However, you will be facing disciplinary action for this stunt. Report to my office at 0730 tomorrow morning."

Brantur opened his mouth and she could almost hear his protest coming. She cut him off quickly, "Just be glad that I'm not kicking you out of Twin Suns for this disturbance. If any of the Chiss leaders had chosen to take offense at this..." She glanced over at Jag, "I'm sure Colonel Fel will take measures to ensure that his pilot will regret this incident as well." She stifled the sudden urge to ask him which one of his sisters this was, Wyn or Cem.

Jag, who had been listening quietly to the exchange, suddenly looked up at Jaina sharply. She could see the beginning of fury on his face as he turned stiffly towards his sister. "You're dismissed for now, Lieutenant." His voice was cold, as was his expression, as he turned back towards Jaina. "Colonel Solo, in case you've forgotten, I'm no longer apart of your squadron, nor am I apart of your Goddess scam or under your authority in any way and as such you have no right to give me orders, especially in front of one of my pilots."

"Don't you mean your sister, Colonel?" she shot back without hesitation. "You can hardly be an impartial commanding officer in this case."

"You're questioning my impartiality?" His voice was low and incredulous. "You, Goddess," he sneered, "are the one that throws away the lives of her pilots without a thought and killed two hundred people who you were supposed to be protecting all because you were blinded by the need for revenge against the Vong for the death of your brothers."

Her first blow caught him solidly on the chin and he staggered back several steps. Jaina's second blow never connected, as her wrist was caught in firm and immobilizing grip before it could connect. The next blow, aimed at the person restraining her, was thwarted again with Jedi instincts. Kyp's face was cold, as he forced Jaina to face him. "Not now, Goddess." He shoved her towards the exit, without a backwards glance.


	28. Of Grandparents And Actual Plot

Kyp's grip on her arm as he almost dragged her out of there was painfully tight. As upset as she was, Jaina didn't put up a fight until they were outside of the reception.

"Let go of me, Kyp," she growled. Jedi Master or not, former partner or not, even Kyp would only get one warning from her.

"No, Goddess," he said firmly, "This has gotten to big. This isn't something that you can handle by yourself." He looked at her penetratingly. "You don't even realize that you were out of control in there, Jaina."

She put her feet down firmly, refusing to move. She glared pointedly down at her arm, as Kyp refused to let it go. A moment passed an then she was looking back up at Kyp. He met her gaze challengingly.

"Very well then."

It was like nothing Kyp had seen, felt, or even heard of before. It was as if a charge of pure energy had passed through her arm, burning into his skin like fire and acid. With a supremely controlled effort, Kyp met her eyes and refused to let go, gripping her arm even tighter. He thought he saw a flash of surprise in her eyes, but the pain in his hand simply intensified. Soon not even with Kyp's master of the Force, could he make his hand remain clamped around her arm. He let go with a gasp and took a step away from her.

"Are you out of your mind, Solo," he demanded, as he cradled his hand protectively.

She looked at him for a moment with an expression that Kyp couldn't interpret and then turned away.

He glanced down at his hand and was surprised, but relieved to see that it was visibly unhurt, although it still throbbed with the remnants of whatever Jaina had inflicted on it. "Jaina," he called after her, "Don't do this. I don't know what's wrong with you, but I will do whatever I have to stop this." He shook his head, "You don't even realize that you're not okay," he emphasized again.

She stopped walking and turned back to face him. Strangely her face was calm, not showing the least sign of anger. "You have no idea what I do or do not know, Kyp. Your problem is that you feel that you have to save everyone. Well whatever obligations you think you have or want to have to save me, don't even exist anymore. You haven't been my Jedi Master for years and you are certainly not my partner. That ended years ago and it never should have begun. So take care of yourself, Jedi Master, because I can and will take care of myself without you and certainly without Jagged Fel."

============================================================================ ====

The by now familiar, but still beautiful, landscape of the Nubian hillside unfolded around Jaina. After five years, she could summon and occasionally even banish her dream visits whenever she wished. Tonight she debated attempting to banish the dream, but in the end she didn't. It was the only calm in the storm that Jaina allowed herself to have from the constant pressure and horrors of the war. She was leery of it, though. It was a gift given to her by the Force, but it was one that she didn't want to use all that often. She had sensed the inherent danger of the place almost immediately. It could calm her tempestuous soul, but it could also ease away her finally honed mental edge. It was just as important as the fighting skills that she honed in the physical world.

She had found ways to combat that, however. Sparring with her grandfather, the man who had been Darth Vader, here in this environment had certainly been one of her better ideas. Tonight, though, it wasn't Anakin that she found, but Padme. She hadn't spent as much time with her grandmother as she had with her grandfather, but tonight seeing Padme's solitary presence somehow seemed more right than slipping off to speak with Anakin as she had planned.

"You haven't come to see us in quite some time," the hint of rebuke in Padme's voice made Jaina hesitate. It was true. She hadn't seen them before the incident with the Chimaera.

"I've," she hesitated and changed what she was going to say, "A lot has happened."

When Jaina finished explaining, Padme leaned back in her chair for a moment and then said softly, "You're so much like Ani."

Jaina grimaced, "That's not exactly comforting or reassuring," she replied sarcastically.

Padme rose to her feet abruptly. One thing Jaina had learned very soon after meeting her was that Padme was fiercely protective of her Anakin. She was also very adamant about the fact that Anakin Skywalker was not Darth Vader. "The man I married was not a bad man," she said sharply to Jaina. She lowered herself back into her seat and seemed to be looking into the past. "Anakin, even as a young boy, had a quick temper, which unfortunately, you seem to have inherited." She smiled at her only granddaughter, "You, however, have something that Anakin didn't."

She paused and Jaina could see a hint of long ago sadness and lingering guilt in Padme's eyes. "I couldn't be what Anakin needed. Nothing and no one could. The total corruption of the Old Republic and even the darkness that had begun to seep into the midst of the Jedi- even into the Jedi Council- kept Anakin bound by rules that he felt were holding him back. The rigid rules of the Council prohibited us from being honest about our marriage. It was the only decision that we could make," she said slowly, "And perhaps it was the wrong one. Or maybe it was merely the will of the Force. Whatever it was, our marriage helped Anakin for a time. He was calmer, more centered and focused in the lightside of the Force. Over time, though, Obi-wan became suspicious. We were afraid for each other if our secret was discovered and we were constantly lying. Fear, even in a situation like that, can leave a Jedi open to the darkside. Our love for one another was tainted by that darkness."

Padme focused intently on Jaina. "Anakin and I were caught in events far greater than us. Anakin's fate had already been sealed by the millennia old prophecy of the Chosen One. You have a choice." She kept talking as Jaina started to interrupt, "Yes, you have been named in a prophecy, as well. You serve as the Sword of the Jedi, but you still have a choice, a chance to alter your fate. The prophecy of the Sword of the Jedi was not uttered by my son because of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. It would have been your destiny regardless of the circumstances of the rest of the Galaxy. An anomaly, however, has been created in the Force. The Yuuzhan Vong are different. The Force is in all things. When one large element of the galaxy, like everything that is connected to the Yuuzhan Vong, is anomalous, then it has an effect on the entire nature of the Force. That was what your Anakin was beginning to understand," she added and both women were silent for a moment.

Jaina remembering a little brother, and Padme letting her daughter grieve in the one place where she could let her emotions be free.

"Jaina, you've been given a chance that Anakin and I never had. Let your pride and your anger go. Don't become what you fear the most."

Jaina looked away from Padme, but didn't comment on what she had said. When she looked up, her eyes were still troubled, but her face was clear. It bore a look that Padme recognized, one of pure mischief. She had after all, seen it on Anakin's face often enough when he was a Padawan and after he had first been knighted. Jaina flashed her a lopsided Solo grin, "Where did you gain all of this deep philosophical insight into the Force? You're starting to sound like Jacen."

Padme snorted, "I'm one with the Force, dear, I have nothing to do for the rest of eternity but be surrounded by the presence of all of the Jedi Masters that have ever been. How could I escape it?"

Jaina actually laughed in response, but her humor was short lived. She hugged Padme somewhat awkwardly. "Thank you...I think," she whispered quietly and then turned to walk away, eventually fading out of Padme's sight.

Padme watched for a moment longer, but couldn't keep the worry from her face. The choices that she, Padme, had made were still having repercussions on the galaxy. Her grandaughter's path would be no easier and her choices would be just as significant. Perhaps it wasn't enough, but all Padme could say was, "May the Force and your Jagged be with you, dear. You will need them both."

=======================================================================

The screech of alarms had Jaina snapping awake and flowing into a burst of motion long before her mind had caught up with her body. She pulled on her flight suit quickly, grabbing her blaster, comm. link and lightsaber as she ran out into the corridor. She was distantly pleased to see the other members of Twin Suns spilling out into the corridor before the members of the other squadrons. Jaina was jogging down the corridor as Esmen caught up with her.

"Any last minute orders, Goddess?"

Jaina shook her head. "No, not until we know what's going on. This could be something as simple as a diplomatic envoy that's coming in at an unscheduled time." Jaina paused for a moment, thinking ahead through everything that needed to be done. "Esmen," she said quickly a moment later, "Contact Karrde, now. Ask him for all of the information that he has on recent Vong movements. If this is something, I want to be informed."

Esmen was already pulling out her comm. link as Jaina's own comm. link started chirping. She activated it quickly with her free hand as she climbed into her x-wing cockpit. "Goddess here," she answered with preoccupation as she ran through a streamlined version of the normal preflight checks.

"Colonel Solo." Even over the comm. channel, Jaina had no problem recognizing the voice of Grand Admiral Pellaeon.

"What's the situation, Gilad," Jaina asked flicking the repulsorlifts on even as her cockpit was still closing.

"We have a situation, Jaina, and we need our best pilots out there to determine what we're facing. There was a small incursion in the outer edges of the system, but we need to know more before any of us commit our forces. You will be working with Colonel Fel of the Spike's and Master Durron and his Dozen." He hesitated for a split second as Jana half listened to her pilots checking in as they flew up to join her in their positions. "I believe you've worked with both of them before."

Jaina gritted her teeth, "Of course, Gilad."

"Very well then, Colonel. May the Force be with you."

Jaina flipped her comm. link off immediately and tuned to a general pilot frequency. She really didn't want to work with Kyp or Jag, but for the moment, she had no choice. There were, however, much worse squadron leaders that she could be forced to work with. She glanced at her threat board to confirm that Twin Suns had taken up its usual defensive formation. She had confidence that Esmen could handle the standard procedure of the squadron, after all it was her job as second-in-command. That would leave her free to have a quick and painfully terse conversation with Jag and Kyp about how they would approach this.

Their comments were all clipped, but within a matter of moments they had come up with a workable plan. The three of them had all been flying long enough to know that allowing personal grievances to get in the way of a fight could be a deadly mistake for all concerned. They were professionals and none would let something like that jeopardize their mission or their squadrons.

Together, the three of them had decided that Kyp's Dozen with its mix of various types of fighters would go in first to mislead the unknown presence by their thrown together appearance. Twin Suns would follow them in and the more maneuverable Spikes would hold their position outside of the engagement area in case Twin Suns and the Dozen ran into more trouble than they could handle.

Jaina called out orders to her squadron, breaking them up into flights and moving them into the formation that she wanted. She slipped into the Force, reaching out to the surroundings. Before she could fully slip into the flow of the area of space around her, the mottled rock like form of a Yuuzhan Vong ship slid into her view. It was about the same size as a Galactic Alliance Corvette class ship. She unconsciously touched her Force bond with Kyp and snatched the attack plans that he was calling out, from his mind.

Half a heartbeat later, she was calling out to her own squadron "Attack formation Delta 5, people. Let's follow the Dozen's lead on this one," she added.

The first flight of Kyp's squadron led by Kyp, himself, raked the hull of the Yuuzhan Vong ship with laser fire. Dovin Basal voids worked frantically to absorb the shots, but a few got by, causing small lava like eruptions in the hull. However no globules of molten plasma came hurtling back at the small flight of mismatched fighters and no grutchins descended on them like a great cloud to strip their shields.

A flurry of chatter hit the general squadron frequency and Jaina barked, "Can that chatter, Twins. Now! Maintain the formation, but back off five hundred meters." She flicked to another frequency in time to hear Kyp say, "Something's not right here."

"You mean because the Vong ship is not making any moves, aggressive or otherwise," Jaina said sarcastically.

"Something like that," Kyp agreed, unperturbed by her response.

"Maybe it's an ambush," Jag interjected. There was a moment of silence. If it was an ambush all they could do was be prepared. They had no way of knowing for certain until something happened.

Kyp broke the silence a moment later. "Pellaeon's been updated on the current situation. His orders are to hold our position, while he sends a tug. He wants to try to retrieve this ship."

"That could be what they want," Jaina murmured. "That Vong ship could contain explosives or some other dangerous booby trap that will be triggered when Pellaeon brings that thing in."

"It is Pellaeon's call," Kyp reminded them as his squadron took up flanking positions around the vessel in question.

Jaina just hoped that the space tug would be there soon. In situations like this one the whole squadron would be waiting, full of tension and restrained adrenaline until the situation was out of their hands. The potential for surprise or ambush was too great for them to relax and the mission was too boring for them to work off some of their restrained energy.

"Goddess, something's happening over here."

Jaina was almost glad to hear Brantur's voice. "What's the situation, Twin 4?" She asked immediately.

"Their lights or whatever the Vong biotech equivalent is called, are flashing over here in a repeating pattern of some kind. I ran them by my astromech and through my computer. I got nothing, but it definitely looks like some kind of signal."

"Send me the pattern," ordered Jaina. She studied it for a moment and then played it again. "Spike Leader, Dozen Leader, I think we might have some people on board that Vong ship. One of my pilots saw lights flashing in some kind of code on the other side of the ship. I can't decode it, but I'm almost certain that it's a Clone War era encryption code."

"Let me see it," Jag ordered sharply.

"What are you, an expert on old combat encryption codes now, Spike Leader," Jaina asked even as she sent the codes.

"Well maybe if you hadn't been so busy making out with your Jedi friend then you might have learned that my brother was a part of the task force that relocated the survivors of the Outbound Flight Project and that he taught me much about the military of that era."

He had barely finished speaking when an almost deafening squeal of static came over the frequency, silencing both of them. Kyp's voice followed it. "That's enough." His message was simple, but clear. "What does it say, Spike Leader?"

There was a pause and then Jaina's threat board was lit up, her proximity alarms screaming as two large Yuuzhan Vong vessels dropped out of hyperspace. Through all of the noise, Jaina only caught one word of what Jag had said. "Callista."


	29. Inadvertent Cooperation

Jaina jerked the flight stick of her x-wing away as a spray of Yuuzhan Vong plasma projectiles tracked towards her. She ignored them, and ducked into another flight path. She flew in between a clawcraft and another skip. The second skip exploded into molten coral a moment later as the line of plasma fire that had been tracking behind her hit it.

She twisted into another dive and then inverted her ship, so that she came rocketing back up above the clawcraft that she had just passed behind. As the coralskipper that had been behind her continued to follow her with the intensity of tunnel vision, it set up the perfect shot for the pilot of the clawcraft. And then the skip was just so much coral dust.

The flight had long since turned into a few for all. The three squadrons that had come to investigate had long since been outnumbered. Pilots were separated from their assigned wingmates and even from their squadrons. Jaina had lost her wingmate early in the fight and managed to team up with an available clawcraft. She hadn't been able to find her temporary partner through all of the comm. clutter of the battle, but it hadn't yet been a problem. The pilot, whoever he or she was, seemed to be able to match her move for move whenever necessary. Jaina wondered for a moment, if the pilot had been among those at Borealis years ago as they executed a maneuver that she had invented there as the new leader of Twin Suns. Or, maybe Jag had just taught it to his pilots. After all any little edge could be beneficial to a pilot.

The loop that she and the clawcraft had taken thought the fight had been erratic at best as they had dodged incoming globules of molten plasma and engaged several skips. Now, however, they were back facing the three larger coral ships. Jaina was surprised when she saw the first Vong ship facing off against the two late arrivals. It was odd to see Vong ships facing off against one another.

After only a moment of hesitation, Jaina pushed the throttle of her x-wing forward, weaving towards the three larger coral ships. It went against everything her mind told her to help any Vong ship, and she wasn't sure what Jag's mention of Callista had been about, but for the moment she was interested enough in the fate of the first ship, especially if there were people who were trying to escape from the Vong or Callista, to try to save them.

She danced through the streams of molten plasma pouring off of the Vong ships, drawing as much of the first Vong ship. She dove towards the nearest of the ships and waited, plunging closer and closer to its hull. She pulled up at the last second, but not before she had released two torpedoes at point blank range into the hull. It wouldn't be a mortal wound for the large living ship, but it would definitely get the ship or its controller's attention.

Jaina winced as the barrage of molten plasma coming her way intensified. Apparently someone had taken notice of what she had done. She pulled away from the larger ship quickly, opening up her exit trajectory with a barrage of laser fire and rejoined the larger brawl of fighters. She risked a glance at her chrono a moment later. 3.14 minutes left before the combined Imperial, Galactic Alliance and Chis forces appeared. Her squadron, the Spikes and the Dozen or at least what was left of the squadrons only had to keep the Vong ships occupied for that long before their reinforcement arrived.

As far as Jaina was concerned they couldn't come too soon.

Two minutes later Jaina's sensors registered the incoming ships, just as she saw the tell tale flicker of the shields on the clawcraft that she had been flying with. With no shields the next burst of plasma from the skip would blow the clawcraft and its pilot into so much space debris. She maneuvered her x-wing in front of the incoming plasma projectiles but couldn't reroute power to her forward shields in time. The projectile slammed through the whole in her shields and ripped away part of her wing. Her destabilized x-wing stumbled into a nauseous out of control spin.

Jaina's first instinctive reaction was panic. Her response was calm, absolute centered Jedi calm made all the eerier by the circumstances. Statistically, even with a healthy Corellian disregard for the odds, there was no way for Jaina's out of control spin to be stopped without interference from an outside force. She didn't hesitate. Her grip on her flight stick loosened and she feathered the stick with confident easy movements. With the Force to guide her hand she had every confidence that she could get her x-wing under control. The only things that she would need were time and concentration. Time was something that she didn't have to spare. Her squadron was still fully engaged in the fight.

As the spinning started to slow, she aimed a furious glance at her wing. She didn't regret making the effort to save that pilot, but she hated being disabled and out of the fight, while the rest of her squadron was still there. Like so many other things in her life though, there was nothing that she could do about it.

==========================================================================

Jagged Fel paced the small eight by eight room that he had been given for a temporary office on Bastion. The fight had ended almost four and a half hours ago and she Spikes had gone off duty only an hour ago. He had three pilots in the medbay, two from serious injuries as their clawcrafts exploded around them and another with a minor head injury from a particularly jolting hit that her fighter had taken. It wasn't a good sign, of course nothing had turned out well. The reinforcements had arrived barely in time and the first Vong ship had actually been taken into joint Galactic Alliance and Imperial custody.

The coded message that he had just begun to unravel before the fight was incomplete and worrisome. It gave him plenty to speculate on and all he had managed to decode was the line containing Callista's name. That name alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

Jag wasn't a coward, but he did remember his last encounter with Callista. He remembered it vividly. He would, however, find out what was developing with that situation in about an hour. A general briefing for key military personnel had already been scheduled. He stopped pacing for a moment and stepped towards his desk. Jag eaned over the desk and started to pull up any available information on Callista. He hadn't been completely out of touch since he had left the Known Regions, but he hadn't kept a close eye on everything.

Jag paused and glanced up as the door to his office burst open. A blur of blonde hair crossed the room and caught him in a hug.

"Jagged," his sister's voice was full of relief.

He wrapped his arms around her, as well. He and Cem hadn't always been the closest of siblings and they only rarely demonstrated their affection for one another. That didn't mean, however, that they didn't care about one another. It was Jag's greatest fear as her older brother and squadron commander that someday he would have to go home and tell his parents that Cem was dead.

"I'm fine, Cem," he said quietly. He stepped back away from her and took a seat at his desk. He flashed her a small smile of brotherly pride and said tiredly, "You flew well today."

"Thanks," she said, but her voice was laced with solemnity, "That's such a compliment coming from the great Jagged Fel."

Normally it would be cause for at least a glare which would result in a round of mild sibling bickering. Tonight Jag just stared at Cem. This was unlike his sister. Yes, Cem was normally the serious one- at least compared to Wyn- but when they were out of uniform, she still teased him mercilessly.

"You flew well today, too," she commented after a moment and Jag felt his muscles tense.

He had flown with Jaina again today, for the first time in years. They had worked as an excellent team, at least, he admitted once they had been unable to communicate with one another. His face got a little bit grimmer as he remembered the verbal blows that they had traded. It had been painful, more painful than he had anticipated. He pushed the thoughts away as Cem spoke again, this time looking away from him instead of meeting his eyes.

"I saw today, Jag...when that skip," she hesitated, "Your shields were down." She choked back a sob, "I don't want to lose another brother."

"I'm fine, Cem," he said tightly, surprising even himself as he felt his throat tighten. He had been scared today, too. Somehow he had known that the pilot of that x-wing was Jaina. It couldn't have been anyone else. When her wing had been blown off he, Jag Fel, had almost panicked. If Jaina had died saving him after their argument...he pushed the thought away and stood up. "I'm fine," he repeated and hugged her again letting her tears soak into his shoulder. He glanced at the chrono on the wall. He had to get to that meeting but his first priority was Cem. Jag would take her back to her quarters and instruct her wingmate to ensure that she got to sleep. Then he would attend this meeting. Then he would face Jaina. This didn't mean he owed Jaina anything. In truth he was still furious at her. He wouldn't let the remnants of things that he had thought he felt for Jaina in the past to intrude into how things really were.


	30. Teh Surprise

Jaina Solo held her ignited lightsaber out in front of her with one hand and let her other hand, which was holding a blaster, dangle at her side. She studied the thin membrane that could open into an entrance to the Vong ship with an expert eye. After a careful visual inspection, she tapped a knotted, protruding cluster of nerves with the butt of her blaster and stepped forward as the membrane pulled back with a sickening sound that Jaina had grown accustomed to hearing on Vong vessels. Without looking back, Jaina gestured to a side tunnel heading off from the main one that they had just entered, sending the second team down it.

Once the battle had ended and the first Vong ship had been secured, Pellaeon had pulled together a group of people to investigate it. He had asked Jaina to head the team. She had agreed. She could sense the presence of her two remaining team members behind her. One was a scientist who was there to give a preliminary report on the living ships actual condition, not that Jaina couldn't have given the same report, of course. The second being was Flight Officer Brantur. What his species lacked in height, they more than made up for in speed and compact muscles. They were, in fact, the only beings that Jaina knew of that would stand a chance against a Wookie in an arm wrestling match.

She picked her way easily through the ship, for the most part ignoring distractions and heading for the command center of the living ship.

"Goddess."

She paused as she started around a corner. She held up a hand for silence and cocked her head for a moment to listen. Apparently satisfied for the moment, she turned back to the scientist and nodded.

"I haven't seen anything like this," he exclaimed gesturing and a massive growth protruding from an otherwise normal- or at least what passed for normal on a Vong vessel- wall. "This is the first time that we've captured a Yuuzhan Vong ship of this kind and this appears to be a totally new creature.

She didn't bother trying to restrain her impatience. If she was right, this vessel might contain something more urgent than a new creature. "Can't it wait," she hissed.

He shook his head sharply. "I haven't figured out what this creatures function is, but it is very connected to the vessel. With the injuries that this vessel has sustained, the time period we have to observe this creature while it is alive is very small."

Jaina made her decision without wasting anymore time. "Fine, Brantur, stay here with him. Contact me if something happens or if your position changes."

"Yes, Great One."

She headed around the corner, the picking up her speed as she went. A measured walk turned into a light jog as she raised her comm. link. "Team Two report."

"We're checking the aft section, Goddess. So far we haven't encountered any Vong or Peace Brigaders, but everything back here is a mess. Systems are decomposing and as far as we can tell, no one has been back here for a few weeks."

Jaina took in the information quietly. "Let me know if the situation changes." She heard their acknowledgement and then signed off. She paused for a moment, taking the opportunity to turn down the sound on her comm. link signal until it was almost silent. She took a deep breath and then moved towards the opening that she had seen in the distance. Jaina moved quietly towards it. If this vessel was anything like she thought it was, then this was what she looking for. If anyone was still alive then they would most likely be here.

Her lightsaber sang as she whipped it through the air in a one handed grip and shredded the thin opaque membrane with two quick slashes. Jaina moved cautiously through the doorway. In the next moment, she was flying through the air as something surged around her trying to...absorb her. It was both inescapable and intangible. Jaina flailed out, but found nothing. Her eyes were blinded by...something and the only thing that she could hear was the rapid hammering of her own heartbeat. Her only thought was the desire to be free of this Thing.

Jaina focused her will on the Force and slowly felt the Thing begin to separate from her skin. A second later she tumbled to the floor. She swiped at her eyes as soon as her hand was free and then took a moment to examine the goo that had been covering her eyes. "What the Sith was that?" She demanded to no one in particular.

"It is just one of the little surprises that the Shapers have come up with to protect Yuuzhan Vong vessels from infidel invaders."

Her lightsaber, which had fallen out of her hand when she was attacked, slammed into her palm. "Callista," she growled. Jaina moved slowly towards the other woman her amethyst blade deceptively lower than the classic attack position. "You shouldn't have come back," Jaina emphasized her point with a lazy looking slash that nearly separated Callista's head from her body despite the fact that she had been waiting for Jaina to strike.

Callista's laughter almost sent chills down Jaina's spine. "My, my, you have grown up, Jaina. Attacking an unarmed woman without provocation, perhaps you are worthy now."

Jaina feinted with a low slash at Callista's legs, but checked the movement, throwing Callista off balance as she landed a solid kick to the older woman's midsection. Callista fell back, but not before Jaina felt a Force blow rake her face like a vibroblade. A thin line of blood trickled down her cheek.

"You're hardly unarmed, Callista," Jaina corrected, "And as for provocation, I think trying to had the location of the highly secret Jedi stronghold over to the Vong qualifies."

This time Jaina felt Callista's Foce blow coming and met it with an impenetrable Force shield. Now it was simply a contest of the Force. Jaina was tempted to see the contest through, crushing Callist'as attempt. The instincts that she had developed through the years of the war, however, made her change her mind. Her eyes never moved from Callista's as she reached for the extra blaster strapped to her left hip. She pulled it free and snapped off a shot at Callista's head in one clean move.

Callista dove to the side and rolled back to her feet smoothly, her concentration on the Force disrupted with the sudden lethal distraction. As she rose Callista had managed to grab something from the floor and hold onto it as she stood. She threw the hissing amphistaff at Jaina with as much strength as she could muster.

Jaina barely reacted. She never took her eyes off of Callista as it flew towards her. At the last moment, Jaina's lightsaber snapped up, hooking the amphistaff in just the right place to shear its head off. The two pieces fell harmlessly to the floor at her feet. "You're dead, Callista," Jaina said with absolute certainty. She took a step forward and raised her lightsaber for the final blow.

"Wait," something in Callista's voice had changed. "I want to surrender. That's why I came here."

Jaina barely hesitated. "Hardly, Callista. You're too much of a liability. Besides aren't you the best of friends with the Vong leaders"

Callista's expression darkened. "Why do you think those other Yuuzhan Vong ships were firing on me, little Jedi?" Her expression was disdainful. "My Masters were far from pleased with my failure. I've been a prisoner, not a Dark warrior fighting to submerge the galaxy under my Dark rule."

It was Jaina's turn to laugh. "I hope you enjoyed your time in their embrace of pain. You won't find any sympathy from me."

Purple flashed through the air in a blur. "Your twin is alive." A rivulet of blood ran down Callista's chest as Jaina's blade kissed her neck.

Jaina stepped back. "Get up."

============================================================================ ============

Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon rose to his full height. "We have already managed to verify some of the information that Callista has provided us with by using outside sources." He looked out into the mixed audience, all watching him steadily. "She has made us aware of a prison camp containing high profile captives. Ranking intelligence officers and strategist, some of our best commanders and even a few Jedi are rumored to be held there. Colonel Solo's twin brother, until recently believed to be dead, is among these prisoners according to Callista."

"Have we considered the possibility that this is a trap, designed to convince us to launch an attack into Vong space?"

Pellaeon identified the speaker as Jagged Fel. "Of course, Colonel Fel, and that is why we will not be dealing with this matter. Most of these prisoners have been missing for years and any classified information that they might have is outdated enough that they are not worth the risk of rescuing." Pellaeon took a breath and glanced around the room at the assorted beings. "This course of action has been okayed by all of your superiors. Your orders are to return to your previously assigned duties. We will not acknowledge or release this information for now." He drew himself up to his full height. "Any questions?"

A few of the officers, especially those apart of the Galactic Alliance looked as if they were about to choke or explode at their orders, but everyone remained silent. "Good," Pellaeon declared. "If anything else comes up, you will be notified. Until then you are free to go."

=======================================================================

Jag walked slowly back towards his quarters. The Spikes had just been going off duty when the alert had come in and he wanted nothing more than several hours of sleep. As his mind wandered he kept flashing back on the look that Jaina had worn following Pellaeon's announcement. She had looked angry, upset and disappointed that no rescue effort would be made to rescue her brother. She had visibly kept her fury in check, but her exit had been far from quiet. She was obviously far beyond displeased with the decision. It was the response that she was expected to have and it seemed totally wrong to Jag.

He had thought that he knew Jaina better than most at one time. Of course, he had been wrong about that. Jaina's response in there, however, still seemed like an act to him. A very good, expected act and one that most people wouldn't see through, but it was still, nonetheless, an act. Jag wondered what was happening with Jaina and then grimaced. It was freeing, he realized, to no longer have to be a part of whatever insane scheme Jaina came up with. It was her superiors job to worry about what she would do now, not his and for that Jag was glad.

He palmed his door open, unlocking with a few deft strokes to the keypad, and then stepped inside. The interior was dark, just as he had left it. He began stripping out of his flightsuite and then pulled off the shirt he wore underneath it. A sonic shower was the only thing between him and his bunk.

"Hello, Colonel."

He froze at the voice in the darkness. Jag caught a flicker of motion in the corner of his eye and he eased his hand slowly towards his charric. A bark of laughter cut into the darkness.

"Colonel Fel, please," the voice mocked his action and then he heard the light panel behind flick on.

Jaina was sitting comfortably on his bed, the picture of relaxed tension. It was a paradox, but so was she.

"Breaking and entering," he asked rhetorically, "Isn't this a new low for you to sink to, Goddess?"

She laughed, once again seeming more mocking than amused. "It's not a crime when you know the code, Colonel. You haven't changed them."

Jag wondered if he was imagining the change in Jaina's voice. He ignored it and bit out his next question. "Why are you here, Colonel Solo? I don't think we have anything to say to one another."

Jaina nodded sharply and rose off of the bed, straightening to a more professional stance. "For once we agree, Colonel." She studied him appraisingly and then changed the subject. "You've been busy for the past five years. Several outposts in the deeper, most remote parts of Wild Space, a few minor skirmishes here and there, but no contact with the Yuuzhan Vong."

He twitched an eyebrow at her. "Have you been keeping an eye on me, Goddess?"

"No." Her response was flat, not inviting anymore questions about that or suggesting that answer might be forthcoming. "Before you left, Colonel Fel, you believed the the Vong needed to be stopped. Do you still feel that way?"

He heard the challenge in her voice and wondered what she was really asking. Jag didn't want to get wrapped up in a quest for personal vengeance. He might have thought that Jaina was worth it years ago, but he certainly didn't feel that way now. "My current assignment includes only protecting the Chiss representatives here. Unless we come under attack, here, I doubt that I'll be engaging in any more fights with the Yuuzhan Vong."

She looked into his eyes and Jag could see her make a decision. "Pellaeon's reaction to the information that Callista provided us with was harsh and unilateral." She paused for a moment and then plowed forward with certainty. "It was also false. Pellaeon knows that there are spies, highly ranking spies, here that are working for the Vong and the Peace Brigade. However, he doesn't know who they are. He wanted to put them off guard. He knows about the Insiders and the fact that there are a small group of them operating here. You were with the Insiders at Borealis. Are you still willing to fly and fight as part of an Insider operation?"

Jag studied her, the circuitous conversation finally making sense. What Jaina had been asking about was his loyalty. She wanted to know if he was still willing to deceive, fight and possibly die to defeat the Vong. He wondered if she really thought that he had changed that much and then reminded himself that it didn't matter anymore. "If I say no...," he left the statement hanging, although he already knew what his answer was.

"Then this conversation never happened."

Jag felt a flush of anger as he caught the implication beneath her words. If he had refused then Jaina would have used her Jedi powers to erase the entire conversation and meeting from his mind. "So that's why you were the one to approach me," he demanded. The notion of someone, even or especially Jaina, using the Force to control his thoughts left him understandably upset.

Jaina smirked, "It was me or Kyp. We're the only ones here in the Bastion system that are powerful enough to pull it off." She gave a disinterested half-shrug, "It would raise less suspicion, given our history, if I were seen entering your quarters- which I wasn't- then if Kyp were seen."

Jag blinked. It was the first time that either of them had brought up their past relationship. It didn't, however, appear to be a topic that Jaina was inclined to stay on.

"Your answer," she prompted impatiently.

He nodded, "I'll work with the Insiders."

She turned to walk away, tossing back over her shoulder a reply. "The meeting is in the secondary conference room at 0820 tomorrow morning." He saw her raise her hand to palm the door open. "I would have done it," she stated flatly, without turning to face him, "but, Jag, for what it's worth, I'm glad I didn't have to."


	31. Sibling Surprise

Jaina stood in front of the door to another set of shared quarters. This time she hit the panel that would announce her presence to the room's occupants. She counted slowly and silently to thirty, giving them time. She wasn't actually in their chain of command, but she knew from experience that it had never hurt to tidy up for a senior officer, whoever they were.

As she counted off thirty-one, the door finally snapped open. The blue skinned Chiss woman was standing stiffly almost at attention in front of her bunk. Jaina focused on her first rather than the person that had opened the door. "Lieutenant, would you mind excusing us for a moment?"

It might have been phrased as a question, but there was no doubt that it was a thinly disguised order. The Chiss woman shot a brief glance at her roommate and then apparently finding whatever confirmation that she sought, she scooped up her jacket and datapad, brushing passed Jaina as she exited.

Jaina didn't move until the door had hissed shut. She easily took a seat on the room's one small cramped chair. "What's your name?" She asked quietly.

A frown penetrated the glower on the blonde's face. "You know who I am."

"Are you Wyn or Cem," Jaina clarified.

"Cem." Her answer was spoken grudgingly. Jaina met Cem's eyes. "I have a proposal for you, Cem, one that your brother will most likely kill me for presenting to you."

Cem's expression didn't change. It remained just as hostile as it had been moments before, but she didn't try to kick Jaina out.

"How much do you know about the last time Jag was in the Known Regions?"

"Enough to know that you could have been my sister-in-law one day, if that's what you were asking. At least before Jag came to his senses," Cem added snidely in her brother's defense.

Jaina's smile was patronizing if a bit brittle. "Actually that wasn't what I was asking. I was referring to what the military operations that Jag was involved in, not the heinously stupid mistakes of youth that we made."

"Oh." The girl's righteous rage lost some of its momentum, but she didn't seem any less angry, just temporarily deflated. "Not really."

Jaina nodded, pushing past her annoyance. She understood how Cem was acting. Cem was protecting her brother. Years ago, when her brothers were alive Jaina could remember feeling the same protectiveness for them. "There was a large battle against the Vong on Borealis, shortly after the fall of Coruscant. We were cut off from any reinforcements. Your uncle, Wedge Antilles, was in charge there. Information was being leaked and the government, or what was left of it, was in a state of non-functioning turmoil. To get things done, keep fighting the Vong and save lives, Wedge formed a secret group called the Insiders that worked to get things- thing both military and political- done outside of the government framework. Jag and I, among many others, were in the Insiders."

"So?" The biting tone was back, not that Jaina really cared. It would just make this take longer.

"So I'm asking if you care about putting the piloting skills that you definitely have, if you're half of the pilot that your brother is, to better use than pulling off flashy maneuvers for diplomats who couldn't care less anyway. I'm giving you a chance to do something, to fly for real, to make a difference in the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong, and if you care about that sort of thing- to go down in history as part of one of the craziest, but most brilliant plans that has been executed. This will make the Rebels going up against a fully functional Death Star, look like child's play."

Cem stared at the other woman for a moment, looking almost wide eyed at Jaina. "You're insane."

Jaina only smiled, and somehow that scared Cem even more. "You don't know the half of it."

Cem had regained some of her composure, or at least bravado, and now she met Jaina's gaze. "You hurt my brother, like I've never seen him hurt before. You should pay for that." Her eyes blazed with fury. "I hope you do pay for that," she hesitated and Jaina saw a mixture of emotions flash through her eyes, "but I won't let the loathing that I feel for you keep me from doing my duty. I'm in."

If she had expected a furious reaction from Jaina, she didn't get one. If anything Jaina seemed amused. "The meeting is in the primary conference room at 0820 tomorrow morning. Don't be late." She walked out without a backwards glance at Cem.

===========================================================

To Jaina's relief, Miat was gone when Jaina entered their quarters a little while later. She didn't know if she could handle the pressure of the constant reminder that Miat represented along with everything else. Callista's words had only just begun to sink in for Jaina. Her mind was screaming at her that Callista's words- the idea that her twin brother might still be alive- were all an elaborate trap, designed in a desperate attempt on Callista's part to save her own life.

Jacen had been dead for almost six years, since the aftermath of the Myrkr mission when the Jedi that had been onboard the Trickster had felt his death. Jaina had always written Leia's insistence that her oldest son was still alive off as a mother's wishful thinking or simply denial. After all, there was only so much grief someone, even Leia Organa Solo could deal with.

If Jacen was alive, though, if... She wondered what it would mean. He would surely be changed from the teenager that she remembered who told bad jokes in an attempt to make Tenel Ka smile, who stood up for what he thought was right, who didn't let anyone else think for him, and who knew her better than anyone else in the Galaxy. He wouldn't know her that well anymore, because she had to have changed just as much as Jacen had in the past six years. That wasn't even considering the fact that he had spent those long years as a Vong prisoner. There was no way to tell how much their indoctrination would have changed him. She didn't even know if he could be trusted anymore. The thought tore at her, adding to the rest of the pain that she was carrying around.

A lone tear trickled down Jaina's cheek, as she sank exhausted onto her bunk. It was times like these, when she was so very tired, both emotionally and physically, that she regretted being alone. It was the only time that she allowed herself to miss Anakin and Jacen, to think about the rest of her scattered family, busy in various places around the galaxy with missions of their own, and to regret what had happened between she and Jag. In her rare moments of crystal clear honesty, she could admit that her breakup with Jag had been mostly an accident. It was simply a misunderstanding of devastating proportions.

Her throat closed around a choked sob. She was overwhelmed by the pain, and unable to escape it. Tonight in Jag's quarters she had been faced with an inescapable reminder of what she had felt for Jag. The possibility that she would have to manipulate Jag's memories had been all too real, and she hadn't been sure if she could actually go through with it or not. She exhaled slowly and then inhaled, drawing the Force to her as she did. Energy poured into her, not the pure clean energy that could bathe a Jedi in peace and calm. She didn't even think she could comprehend how to tap into that power anymore. Instead she focused on her pain, drawing it into her and slowly walling it away deep within her. She replaced it with cold determination.

The past was gone and she had changed irrevocably. She would deal with everything else in the morning.


	32. Insider Introductions

Jaina strode briskly down the hallway, trying to inhale her caf quickly. As a Jedi, she didn't really need stimulants like the ones in caf to wake her up, but she did enjoy it. She took a final and almost regretful sip of the still steaming liquid before she ducked into a small room off of the main corridor.

"What do we have," she asked briskly, while keeping as much distance from the Gotal officer as possible. She knew how distracting her presence could be for a being like the Gotal, who could detect a Force Sensitive, although he couldn't use the Force.

"Nothing yet. Everything's going as planned, Great One." He gestured to the monitoring equipment and the specially designed comm. headset that he was wearing. "Our surveillance hasn't yet been interrupted or spotted to our knowledge."

Jaina nodded and shot a glance down at her chrono. She had ten minutes before she had to be in action and half an hour before she had to be in the Insider's meeting. This would have to be done before then. "What has she been up to," Jaina asked.

This was the important point, if any irregularities came up here, then Jaina would have to deal with the problem. Jaina found herself hoping that nothing came up.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," the Gotal tech admitted, "At least not as far as we can tell. We've eavesdropped on all of her conversations and monitored all of her actions. She hasn't made contact with anyone we suspect of being affiliated with the Vong or other wise suspicious, and at the moment she's on her way to the conference room." He handed her a datacard, "All of her activities today are on here."

Jaina smiled, "Good." She couldn't quite shake her feeling of unease, as she glanced down at the monitoring equipment. When she had arranged this the previous night, it was supposed to be simply a routine precaution. Now she wasn't certain that was the case. "Who's following her now?"

"Chean Timpur. She's one of our best. She was trained by the Wraiths, but she doesn't quite have their flare, which makes her excellent for blending unobserved into any situation."

Jaina started for the door, "Tell her to drop back and report to her post. I'll take it from here." She ducked out into the corridor again, moving around the corner and headed down the short distance to the primary conference room. Jaina hit the activation code and the doors slid quietly open for her. She expanded her Force sense carefully outward as she took a seat at the large conference table in the middle of the deserted room. Jaina felt her approach the conference room at almost exactly 0800. This would be the final test. Jaina couldn't detect anything suspicious about her with the Force, but the scanners in the conference room door would be able to detect any monitoring devices or any bioengineered Vong technology as she walked through them.

Cem walked through the doors at precisely the appointed time.

Jaina watched her look curiously around the almost empty room and then glanced down at the datacard that she held in her hands. The tech that she had been talking to would know to send the results of the scan directly to her datapad. The list of Cem's most recent activities that had been at the top of her datapad caught her eye as she tried to access the new information. Jaina hesitated as the information caught her attention and then she slowly shot her gaze back up to meet Cem's eyes. Slowly she rose to her feet, her chair clattering noisily backwards as she stood. She threw the datacard towards Cem and watched as it skittered across the surface of the conference table as it came to rest in front of Cem.

"You didn't tell me that you were working with CEDF intelligence, or that you were part of their elite non-existent division." Cem's mind was almost as tightly guarded as her facial expression, but Jaina could still feel her surprise.

Cem covered whatever she may have been feeling easily. "I don't know what you're talking about and besides, as you've pointed out that division is non-existent, purely a rumor, so I couldn't be a part of it."

It all sounded right, like the usual precise and logical Fel answer. Jaina was far from convinced. She folded her hands behind her back and started to pace, keeping her movements deliberately casual. In moments like these, the more casual someone looked, the more deliberate the move appeared. She hid a smile; she had learned well from Mara.

"I don't believe you, and I'm a Jedi so that's not an unsupported claim." Actually it was. At this point she couldn't yet tell the cause of Cem's surprise at Jaina's accusation, but she would have easily bet that she was right. The information on the datacard wasn't conclusive, but it was...informative.

"You have no information to back up your claim," Cem returned calmly with small smile.

This time Jaina sensed the tiny hesitation of uncertainty as Cem voiced her statement. It was all the confirmation that Jaina was looking for. "I do." She said simply, neglecting to mention what she had found. A short conversation with a young imperial officer early that morning outside of the mess hall was normally nothing suspicious. Jaina, however, had spent years leading a squadron and maintaining the persona of a Yuuzhan Vong goddess. In those years, she had managed to build contacts, and resources by gaining access to information that very few other people had. Her varied sources of information also allowed her to make connections where others saw none.

She studied Cem appraisingly, "I know who you met with this morning, and I know who that officer really works for. I also have enough information that I could prove that your non-existent division does in fact, exist." She paused pointedly, "I simply chose not to for the moment, because it's not in anyone's best interest, mine included. However, that can all change with a moments notice." She didn't even bother trying to appear threatening. The way she was feeling at the moment she didn't need to try. The Gotal tech wasn't to blame, but she couldn't believe that her own people in Twin Suns had missed the connection. She wondered if, in fact, Cem was really just that good that she had avoided detection even through Twin Suns intense inspection before Jaina had approached her, or if she had simply been lucky. "Give me the information that I want and I won't compromise any of CEDF's current operations."

She saw Cem's recognition that her threat was not an idle one. "What do you want?" Suddenly Cem looked much younger and almost a little afraid, perhaps of what would happen when she had to face her superiors or of what Jaina was about to ask her.

Jaina snorted, "You're good. You must have inherited your mother's talent for acting." Her message to Cem was clear: That tactic wasn't going to work on her. "And as for what I want to know. Who are you reporting to? Does your chain of command go through your squadron leader or is it independent from that?"

"I don't know who I'm actually reporting to. I meet only with contacts, but they change constantly. I never meet with the same contact more than twice and, as for Jagged," her eyes met Jaina's and this time Jaina could feel the truth of the emotion behind them. "Jagged doesn't know what my other mission here is. He thinks I'm just a pilot, and," she hastened to add, "As far as I know Jag's never worked for Intelligence."

Jaina's chrono beeped breaking the tense silence that had hung over the room after Cem's last statement. She glanced down at the warning tone and then stepped around the table. Cem took a wary step back, but Jaina ignored her simply picking up the datacard from the table. "Let's go."

Cem looked at her, leaving her question unspoken. "The Insiders meeting. We don't want to be late."

"You told me that the meeting was supposed to take place here." Cem stated warily.

Jaina looked back over her shoulder at her, "I lied." She noticed the foot traffic flowing past in the corridor outside the conference room and stepped reluctantly back into the room. "You already know about the Insiders. I could change that if I wanted to, but that's not my current inclination." She had actually been considering that possibility since she had first realized who Cem also worked for. The will of the Force, at least for the moment, however, seemed to be pushing her away from that possibility. It simply wasn't a decision that...felt right. It was nothing that she could put into words, but Jaina was willing to trust her feelings on the matter. The Force was not a crutch, but it was a Jedi's greatest ally. "I haven't decided what to do with you yet, in the long term. For the moment, you'll come with me to the Insiders meeting and then after the meeting we'll decide what to do about the situation."

Cem didn't look pleased with Jaina's pronouncement, but she had little choice in the matter. She started to follow Jaina out the door, but hesitated one last time, "Will Jag?"

Her question faltered there, but Jaina knew what she was asking. Would she tell Jag about what his sister was involved in? Jaina considered it carefully for a moment. She could imagine what Jag's response would be when she introduced Cem as the newest member of the Insiders. This little piece of information was on a different order of important. Keeping this information from him would violate in microscopic remaining threads of their former friendship. It was also unprofessional in the sense that he should be notified of the development as Cem's commanding officer. On the other hand, keeping the information from Jag seemed to be extremely important to Jaina and that could be valuable. In the end, her decision was purely tactical. "I won't tell him, for now." She let the implied threat hang in the air.

=========================================================

The next conference room that they entered was larger and also filled with people. Those with the highest rank sat at the actual conference table while other beings pulled up chairs behind them or lounged against the walls. Jagged Fel had taken up a place in a shadowy corner of the room. It had been years since he had been an active member of the Insiders and he was content to merely observe. He hadn't exactly been pleased when Kyp entered the room and immediately made his way to where Jag was standing. It reminded Jag a little too much of the occupation of Borealis, when he and the Jedi Master would take up similar positions behind Jaina. He had almost felt a sense of camaraderie with the Jedi Master back then and his feelings for Jaina had been almost painfully obvious to anyone who knew him well enough. He had been wrong for about so many things back then.

The Jedi Master was still glowering at Jag at any opportunity that he received and despite his interference when Jaina had hit him, Jag didn't harbor the delusion that Kyp was on his side. He had the feeling that Kyp blamed him for hurting Jaina or turning her into the much changed person that she was today. Jag wondered idly what skewed version of the truth that she could have possibly told Kyp to make him think that when Kyp had actually been there that day. Kyp had actually witnessed that...kiss between Jaina and-

He was caught off in the midst of his thoughts as Jaina entered the room. It wasn't the interruption that Jag would have asked for, but anything was better than being forced to relive that scenario again in his mind for the billionth time. His eyes tracked Jaina as she moved towards the table and stood in front of the last vacant seat. It was only then that he noticed the young woman beside her. He pushed away from the wall quickly as her identity immediately caught his attention. He opened his mouth to ask, to demand to know why his sister was here, when Jaina purposefully focused on him.

Her brown eyes bored into his as she smiled and stated loud enough for everyone to hear, "I would like to announce the newest member of the Insiders here in the Bastion system, Cem Fel."


	33. Important Moments

Jaina sat easily in the chair left for her at the large table. She had seen Jag, and she had felt the waves of anger, mostly directed at her, pouring off of him through the Force. She didn't think about the inevitable confrontation that they would have at the end of the meeting. Even through the myriad of thoughts moving through her mind: concerns about her squadron, what Callista's reappearance might mean, thoughts about her twin and the upcoming mission, she could still feel Jag's eyes boring into her.

She knew that she needed to focus on what was being said. Jaina had completely forgotten about Jag's ability to thoroughly distract her. It was a danger that she couldn't really afford years ago, and it would only succeed in getting her killed quicker now. His ability to distract her angered Jaina, and she had to bite back the urge to snap at him to stop it, and she resisted that urge only out of a desire to keep him from knowing that he had gotten to her.

Cem was surveying the room carefully from an extra seat that had been pulled up next to Jaina, while Jag hovered close enough to Jaina ensured she wouldn't have a chance to avoid him, as they listened to the officer speaking at the moment. The officer was an older Corellian officer that Iella Antilles had recruited into the Insiders herself. Jaina had worked with him on a few occasions before, and she was relieved to see that he was the person starting the meeting.

"At the moment we have Grand Admiral Pellaeon's support, although he knows none of our mission parameters. He has given us access to anything we might need. However, as most of you know, the Insiders, even small detached segments such as this one, are largely self-sufficient. That said, I give you our mission planner, Jaina Solo," he wrapped up a moment later.

Jaina pushed back her chair and stood, and drew the Force around her as she did. "This will be the largest independent mission that the Insiders have attempted since the invasion of Borealis." With a flick of her hand, the overhead holoprojectors switched on. Following a few more quick commands, the view zoomed on a small star system. An unfamiliar star dominated the system as Jaina let the image hang in the air above them. Its coordinates were easily visible in the bottom corner of the holodisplay, and most of the people in the room would recognize where it was: deep in the heart of Yuuzhan Vong territory.

"As many of you have already suspected, our mission is to retrieve the missing prisoners," she said gesturing at the cluster of planets in the system. "This mission will also be under tighter security than normal. This time only a handful of people- five at most- will know the entire mission plan. Individuals will only know enough to fulfill their own role in the mission." She looked around at the gathered people. "I don't know all of you that well, but I do trust you with my life. You wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't. That is the whole point of the Insiders. However, I will only say this once: you will agree to this now or you won't be a part of this mission. You will obey orders as they pertain to the mission plan, unquestioningly, no matter what they may be or however you may disagree with them. Dissention between members of the strike team got many Jedi killed on Myrkr, and that will not happen here." She looked carefully around the room. "If you can't agree to that, get out. Now." Her tone carried all of the warning that was necessary.

The room was motionless for a long moment and then there was a flicker of motion at the back of the room. Jaina watched, motionless, as a solitary Gand filed out. A moment later as the Gand was almost at the exit, another woman, one Jaina recognized as one of the few remaining Jedi, followed him. Jaina hadn't known the woman well, but she had known enough of her to know that she had been directly opposed to Jaina's stance on the Force and her recent actions in general. Jaina was unhappy to lose the woman's skills, but she wasn't entirely unhappy about the situation.

Jaina glanced around the room, waiting for anyone else to make a move. A bust of motion that she had seen out of the corner of her eye, caught her attention then. Her gaze shifted to regain its focus and she found herself staring into Kyp's eyes. He met her gaze openly, but she could sense that he was on the cusp of a decision. She closed her eyes for a second that could have been an eternity, and for the first time in years, she voluntarily opened the Force bond that she shared with Kyp. As the connection between them flared to life, she opened her eyes and allowed one simple word to slip out towards the Jedi Master. 'Please.'

Kyp's eyes widened slightly in a barely perceptible show of surprise at her request. He didn't try to draw out the suspense of his response; instead he simply nodded once, firmly. She looked away from Kyp then and found her gaze fixed on Esmen a moment later. There was no debate in her second in command, simply a firm confidence that she was where she needed to be. Jaina appreciated the sentiment, as much as she could. She had been aware of Esmen's doubts about her, and it was reassuring to see that Esmen was still willing to choose to fly with her.

In her mind she was keeping as silent running count of those who left and those who stayed. Finally, she realized that there was only one person left in the room who had yet to the decision. With uncanny certainty, she knew who it was. She turned at last, to face Jag.

At one time, she would have known without question that he would always be there to help her, whenever she asked or even when she didn't. Now she truly didn't know. She was aware of the fact that her decision to bring Cem into the Insiders was a slap in his face, and she couldn't deny that it had been a deliberate decision on her part. Years ago, he had told her about his family and his sisters in particular. She knew that he cared about them, and that he was fiercely protective of them in a way that Jaina had come to think of as a trait unique to male Corellians.

Jaina had recruited Cem to be used as a bargaining chip. She had known that he would never abandon his sister to a mission, even if it went against his sanity, better judgment and morals to undertake it, and she had chosen to use that to deliberately force his hand. With a sinking feeling, she realized that he knew it, too. He had always known her too well.

His expression was icy as he stared at her, but Jaina refused to back down or to offer him a calm, easy exit. A weaker man would have accepted the forgone conclusion with a show of defiance and possible a vow of vengeance. Jag gave her the satisfaction of neither response.

"What's your plan, Goddess?" What had once been almost a term of endearment coming from his lips, now sounded like an epithet.

Jaina surveyed the room, directing her answer at everyone and not just Jag. "As I said earlier, individuals will only be aware of their own portion of the mission. In a few hours, you will all be receiving a secure datapad with finalized and explicit orders. Don't worry about any of your current assignments. They'll be taken care of." She searched the room, focusing finally on the group of squadron leaders in the rear corner. "I would suggest that you very discreetly review your squadrons. Let me know or go through the usual channels to get anything that you need. The same goes for replacement personnel. I want all squadrons flying at their fully capacity. Slarne," she addressed the Corellian, "I want you to take a look at all of your people, here in the system; I need to see lists of the best people- those who you think we can trust."

He nodded and rose to his feet, "If you'll excuse me then, Goddess. I'll get started."

She nodded without hesitation, "Thank you." She looked at everyone else. "If no one has any questions, that's everything," she added quietly.

A murmur of conversation almost immediately rose up around her, sharp in some places and a dull roar in others, but no one volunteered any questions. Slowly, in pairs and trios, beings discreetly filed out.

Jaina watched, without making a move to join them, as they left, hanging back from everyone carefully. Kyp, after several long moments, moved from where he had been standing and headed towards the exit. "Kyp," she said softly, "hold on a minute." She took a deep breath and looked directly at Jag. "I want you to stay, as well. When I said that there would only be a few people who knew the entire plan, I was referring to the two of you." She looked back in forth between the two men who she had done so much to hurt through the years, and then continued, "I know that the three of us aren't friends now, but I'm not asking for friends. All I want is your tactical knowledge. We worked well together, and this mission is going to be massive in terms of logistics and tactics. I can do this. I have been doing this for years now, but I'm asking for your help with this mission."

Kyp eased down into a chair. Jaina could still see the worry and concern for her in his features, but at least he was willing to listen for the moment. Jag's face, in contrast, bore a look of contempt, and Jaina steeled herself for whatever he would say. Once before she had been wrong about what Jag would say. That had ended in a sweet kiss- their very first kiss. This time she wasn't wrong.

"You threaten me about what you'll do if I don't agree to rejoin the Insiders, and then you coerce me into joining this mission that I know nothing about, except for the fact that it's likely to be the equivalent of a suicide mission, given its creator, by dragging my sister into this." His voice was low and cold as he paused to take in a lungful of air. "Jaina, you're insane, and I do not mean that in a good way."

Jaina watched him without apparent concern, her face a mask of indifference. "Is that all? I certainly hope it is, because the Jag Fel that I remember would never shirk his duty like this. You used to be willing to undertake any mission to fight the Vong, especially if it involved protecting innocent people."

"You call this shirking my duty? Jaina, you know nothing about what I've done."

Kyp sighed and momentarily tore his eyes off of the fight exploding in front of him. Cem Fel was watching her brother in awe, as if she had never seen anything like his outburst before, which, Kyp had to concede, was probably true. Whether Jaina and Jag were screaming at one another or simply working with one another, they each seemed to bring out something in the other that otherwise remained hidden. As the yelling reached a high point and the swirling turmoil in the Force began to give Kyp a headache, he decided to step in.

He rose from his seat and stepped closer to Jaina and Jag. Without warning, he moved between them and pushed them apart. He didn't even bother to use the Force; he simply gave them a sharp shove. It didn't even seem to penetrate their argument. Without even taking her eyes off of Jag, Jaina slapped Kyp's hand away from her and used the Force to push him away from her. If he hadn't been able to feel the waves of pain and anger rolling off of them, the Jedi Master might even have laughed at their mutual stubbornness.

Instead, Kyp took a mental step back to examine the situation. He could always use the Force to seriously knock Jaina and Jag apart, separating them to the far corners of the room, but they needed to get started on the mission planning. Changing the focus of Jaina's wrath from Jag to himself was not the goal.

He almost laughed out loud at the next idea that crossed his mind. It was perfect and it should get them back to the point of the meeting with the minimum amount of violence. With one quick thought, Kyp channeled a rush of energy through him and sent it towards Jaina and Jag. Instead of pushing them apart, though, he shoved them together.

Both stumbled forward, their balance becoming a temporarily lost cause. Instinctively they reached out to catch one another and ended up in something that almost resembled an intimate embrace, with their faces only inches apart. The moment stretched into eternity, and the room echoed with the sudden absence of their yelling.

Cem's cough broke the silence as well as the private universe that had seemed to spring up around them. They both almost jumped away from one another. "We need to discuss this plan, Great One," Kyp prompted into the silence.

Jaina's eyes lingered on Jag and then she refocused on Kyp. The flash of anger in here eyes, directed at him, didn't escape Kyp. "Yes, we do." She took a moment to refocus her thoughts as Jag took a seat at the table as well.

"What kind of numbers are we discussing?" Jag queried a moment later as he studied the datapad that Jaina had to slid to him a moment before.

"Ours or theirs?" Jaina countered.

"Both," Jag answered quickly as Kyp simply watched. Jaina slid him another datapad quietly.

A moment later, Cem's jaw hung open at the expletives that her brother had just uttered as he looked at the sheer amount of Yuuzhan Vong forces that they would be facing.

"Well you certainly didn't learn those on Csillia."


	34. A Deeper Cause

Jaina rifled through the disorganized and sprawling piles of datapads in front of her, with determination. She knew that she had already been working for far too long. A simple glance at the nearest chrono made he wince and wish that she hadn't looked. As a Jedi she could, for at least a week and a half, go without sleep when it was necessary. With her busy schedule, however, sleep had eventually become a rewarding luxury.

She, Jag and Kyp had spent the better part of a day locked n the conference room planning. Once they had gotten immersed in their planning, she and Jag had almost seemed to forget that they were supposed to hate one another and acted civilly if not politely to one another. The hint of a scowl graced Jaina's forehead as she remembered how Kyp had chosen to break up her argument with Jag.

The chirp of an incoming holonet transmission drew her out of her slightly brooding thoughts. She brushed away a few of the scattered datapads until she could find the controls for the holodisplay underneath them. Catching a glimpse of the datapad that she had been searching for among those displaced by her search, she pulled it deftly out of the pile and began to pull up the information that she had been searching for as she switched the holodisplay on.

"Goddess," she answered haphazardly, more focused on the information in front of her than whoever was trying to contact her. She began jotting down notes on another datapad. The plan that the three of them had come up with was definitely daring and quite possibly insane, but it just might work if this data was correct.

"Luke said that you wanted to talk to me, Jaina." A miniature holographic version of Mara Jade Skywalker sprang to life in front of Jaina.

"Aunt Mara," her voice changed instantly for distracted to entirely focused. The look on Jaina's face was one of absolute seriousness. "Is this connection secure," she questioned Mara warily.

The look on Mara's face was an eloquent enough response to her former apprentice's question. "Of course," the older woman's words were definite. "You know I don't take chances with security."

"Good," Jaina responded sharply and then took a deep breath, wondering for a single moment how she had been the person to tell Mara that Callista was back...twice. "A Yuuzhan Vong prisoner surrendered to us."

Mara looked slightly puzzled. "Why were they surrendering to us? If they were a prisoner of the Yuuzhan Vong, wouldn't that make them our ally?"

Jaina's face was grim. "Not when the prisoner was Callista."

Mara sat so still, so frozen, that Jaina thought that there had been a glitch in the holoconection. Jaina could see the barely restrained fury in Mara's eyes.

"Who captured her," Mara asked with deceptive calmness, "And why is she still alive, Jaina?"

Jaina straightened up immediately, all traces of her casual posture gone. "I was the one who found her, and," she didn't give Mara a moment to add a furious rejoinder, "Callista's still alive because she claims to know where Jacen is being held prisoner." Jaina's brown eyes flashed and her chin tilted sharply up with defiance as she stared at Mara.

"You think she's telling the truth." It was a statement of disbelief.

"It's been confirmed as much as my sources can confirm it," Jaina was confident of that at least. She had even forced Cem to access the Chiss information network without the knowledge of her superiors to verify it. "Mara," she said coldly, "I hate Callista and I certainly don't completely trust her, but if this means that Mom was right all of this time. I can't abandon Jacen if there's even the slightest possibility that he's still alive."

There was understanding in Mara's eyes. She hadn't personally seen Jaina's fall to the Dark side after the disastrous mission to Myrkr, but she had seen its results in the years that followed, and she understood at least a portion of the price Jaina had paid for her pain at her brother's death. "I understand, Jaina," she said simply, "but I will not allow Callista to go free again."

====================================================================

A Twi'lek dressed in a food service uniform brushed past Cem Fel as she made her way towards her quarters. Cem hardly even felt the weight of the datapad being slipped from the pocket of her flight suit. She didn't react as a person usually would when they were assaulted by a pick pocket. Instead she merely kept walking as if she hadn't noticed it. That Twi'lek was most likely either the contact that would deliver her most recent report to her superiors or he was working for Jaina and intercepting the information that she was sending her superiors in an effort to make sure that Cem wasn't reporting anything about the Insiders to the Chiss.

Cem didn't bother to hold back a tired sigh. This was all getting so complicated. She had been so excited when Jaina had approached her about joining the Insiders. Before then she had been able to find precious little information to report to her superior, and the knowledge and infiltration of a secret group among the Galactic Alliance would have pleased them greatly. Now she was trapped between two equally powerful and equally dangerous forces. The stakes were impossibly high and she couldn't afford to fail, but neither could she see a way to succeed. Cem wished she could talk to Jag. She wished things were easier, like when she was a small girl and her big brother Jagged could solve any problem big or small.

Now it was she who protected Jag, even if he didn't know it, even if no one knew it but her. His disobedience of the orders to return back to Csillian space years ago, had garnered further reaching consequences than Jag knew. Not only his future among the Chiss was in jeopardy, but also her entire family's future. She had tried to warn Jag to the sensitivity of the issue at home. Csillia was not the place it had once been. The leaders were fiercely conservative and gave humanoids adopted into their midst an even shorter measurement of failure than the enforced on their own people. The Vong war was seen as nothing less than what the people of the Known Regions deserved if they were so weak that they could not protect themselves. It had been a highly unpleasant atmosphere for the Fel family, especially in light of Jag's uncharacteristic defiance.

When Jag had finally managed to return to Csillia to face the top officers of the CEDF, it was too late. The unforgiving regulations of the Chiss military in combination with the unseen political maneuvering had left Jag with no chance. He would be banished, or if he refused to leave, as many honorable Chiss would refuse to leave their homespace, he would be executed. Cem had, had no choice. Jag was stubborn and at times categorically blind. She knew her brother well, and he while not suicidal, he was stubborn. He would not back down from his position, so she had been forced to do whatever was necessary to save him in her family.

It had been difficult, but ultimately doable to persuade CEDF intelligence to even consider her offer. CEDF intelligence, however, proved to be more pragmatic and in some ways more powerful, than other divisions of the Chiss Fleet. She had been assigned to monitor her own brother, in return for her family's safety. She would report anything that Jag failed to and provide any other information that she could get for her superiors, while the Chiss Fleet managed to keep a valuable asset like her brother. Her missions had expanded as her years of service grew and with it the price she paid for Jag's freedom and safety grew.

The information that she had already been able to gather on Bastion had been valuable, but now everything was growing far more complicated and dangerous. She was reporting to three different groups, each with different desires. Her only real loyalty was to herself and her family. She simply wasn't sure how much longer she could do this. Cem refused to let her mind travel down the path to failure and its consequences. It was a gamble, but for the moment she had to keep her knowledge of the Insiders a secret from CEDF intelligence. If they found out, there would be no way that she could explain why she had hidden the information, but it also provided her with possibilities and options previously unavailable. If she and Jagged survived the coming fight, made she could even use the opportunities the Insiders provided to get herself and the people she loved out of this situation.

All she needed was time and opportunity.


	35. Mara vs Callista 101

Jaina Solo paced inside the conference room that the Insiders had effectively commandeered. Jag and Kyp were supposed to have met here to discuss their individual progress and to lock into place the final details of the mission plan. Uncharacteristically, both men were late. Jaina couldn't resist the urge to send a rush of impatient emotion towards Kyp through their Force bond. As a response, he locked her out of his mind with an abruptness that stopped her pacing in mid-step. Kyp rarely responded to her so harshly. The part of her mind that told her that no one, not even the only person who still might be her friend, could be trusted, insisted that she find out what exactly what Kyp was doing. She rejected the thought, but much slower than she might once have.

Her Force senses caught the familiar spark of a presence a moment later, and Jaina used the seconds of warning to summon an air of cool Jedi calm that her impatience belied. The door opened and Jag stepped stiffly inside. His posture was reserved and the usual aloofness, that he summoned when he was forced to deal with a person that he didn't particularly like or respect, appeared in his eyes.

"I apologize for my lateness, Colonel," he spoke stiffly. "I had to deal with a squadron matter."

Jaina nodded, while internally doubting that a squadron commanded by Jag Fel would ever have a 'matter' that would make him late. "Master Durron isn't here yet either," Jaina stated.

It was Jag's turn to nod. "Would you prefer to wait until Master Durron gets here to begin our final planning?"

Jaina shrugged and offered and alternate suggestion. "Yes, we should wait for Kyp before we do that. There are some changes that we need to take in to account now."

"Agreed," Jag said curtly.

Warily they moved to take seats at the conference table, sitting as far away from each other as they could while still being able to work together. Jag told Jaina about the extra munitions that he had managed to secure from a discreet supplier. Jaina responded with news of her own.

"I notified Mara of the situation," she said with a hint of defensiveness. "She understandably wanted to be a part of this mission."

"Excellent," Jag relied genuinely. He had always respected Mara Jade Skywalker as a person and a Jedi. Her presence as a part of the mission reassured him. She was an excellent ally in a fight and if anyone could handle Jaina, or curb her former apprentice's dangerous tendencies, it was Mara. "I assume that she'll want to be directly involved in Callista's part in the mission."

"Yes," Jaina said with a tight smile, "In fact, she's already here and she's already seen Callista."

\- -

Jaina rested one hand against the side of her X-Wing giving it a cursory viewing as she waited for the Jade Shadow to land. Mara was supposed to be approaching the landing area at any moment. She had received clearance to land from Bastion Orbital Control about half an hour ago. Jaina took a step away from her X-Wing, widening her stance slightly as she waited, and then completed the typical Jedi posture by steepling her hands in front of her chest. Her impatience had been mostly supplanted by anxiousness. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had seen a member of her family. It had been at the least more than a year since she had seen Mara.

It wasn't all due to the war effort that her parents were involved in or her desire to avoid them, but instead a strange combination of both. She imagined that if she saw her parents now, that they would seem more like familiar strangers than the couple who had raised her. It was a thought that did not particularly please Jaina, but she was still resistant to the idea of approaching them.

The glint of sunlight on the metal alloy of a starship hull drew her attention from her thoughts and she focused instead on the way that the 'Shadow was making its descent. Jaina could tell, after barely a moment's observation that Mara was flying. Her pilot's mind was automatically analyzing the way that Mara was handling her beloved ship.

The 'Shadow moved in smooth controlled motions without constant maneuvering or minor adjustments. Mara had set up a flawless landing and was following it easily to its completion. The large shuttle touched the duracrete softly, gently, and without the slightest hint of a bounce. Jaina smiled. It was good to see that some things, like the fact that Mara was still one of the best pilots in the galaxy, never changed. The ship seemed to settle further onto the landing area, an illusion which Jaina knew was only created by the diminishing noises of the ship, as it powered down, and the final surge of released energy as the ship's shields dissipated.

Then the boarding ramp bean to lower and Jaina finally took a few steps forward. The ramp settled to the ground with a slight clunk, revealing Mara. Jaina's first glimpse of her aunt was momentarily disconcerting. Her mental picture of Mara clashed sharply with the woman standing in front of her. A few slight lines creased Mara's face and while remaining as fit as ever, Mara seemed to have lost the thin, gaunt look that had haunted her for so long during the beginning of the war. Any lingering trace of the effects of the Yuuzhan Vong disease that Mara had suffered was long gone, and she looked strong, healthy and content.

Jaina choked back a wave of irrational envy before it could escape the shields that she had habitually erected around her own mind. Jaina moved forward onto the ramp and Mara surprised her by wrapping her into a hug. Jaina couldn't remember the last time someone had touched her so freely. Her goddess façade was working well against the Vong. It was also even more effective at distancing her, both mentally and physically, from the people around her, than any other situation that she had been in before. She responded to the hug briefly and stepped back from Mara with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Aunt Mara," and Jaina genuinely meant it.

She had been glad to known that Mara was on her way, of course. Only an extremely foolish person wouldn't want a highly skilled Jedi Master like Mara present, but Jaina was surprised to find that she was also just glad to have her aunt there.

Mara, it seemed, was also taking a long look at Jaina. "I wasn't avoiding you, Jaina," she said with a hint of rebuke that Jaina immediately caught.

Jaina blinked. She had forgotten about how Mara refused to let her get by with anything or pretend something was as it was not. Jaina wasn't quite sure how to respond to that statement. She wasn't sure that she was ready to get into everything that had been happening to her yet. Her best option was to simply evade the question. "Is Uncle Luke with you?"

Mara noted Jaina's non response and her eyes seemed to bore through her former apprentice, but she didn't press the issue. "No," her expression grew grim, "Luke stayed with Ben," she explained quietly. "When it's possible, one of us tries to stay with Ben."

Jaina looked briefly uncomfortable, until she remembered the reason that Mara was actually there. "Would you like to go see Callista, now?" she asked, knowing that it was a purely rhetorical question.

==================================================

"Well, well, Mara Jade. We meet again." Even held down to a table with stun cuffs around her wrists and ankles and a ysalamiri alive and well in the frame that was hanging near Callista, she clearly hadn't gained the sense not to taunt Mara. Her smile was like poison. "How's your beautiful boy, Jade? Does he still cry out from his nightmares in terror?" Callista's voice was light and sing-songy as she taunted Mara. "Do his terrified screams haunt you because you know that you were too weak, too slow and too dumb to catch me before I took him from you? You don't deserve what you can't keep, Jade." Her smirk was victorious, "He has so much potential." If Jaina had held any doubts about Callista's sanity, her suspicions were now confirmed. Callista's voice was filled with the insanity of the Dark Side. "So much potential. He could be twisted... so easily; reformed into the purest Dark Lord. The brighter the light, the greater the potential for darkness." Her voice trembled with excitement, "He would rule the galaxy at my side."

Jaina didn't even try to stop Mara as the woman moved forward. Mara's hand was wrapped around Callista's throat tightly, squeezing her airways shut. Mara met the other woman's eyes in silence. The insane laughter vanished from Callista's eyes, replaced almost instantly by wild determination as she realized her helplessness. Her gray eyes found Jaina with a desperate plea for help. Jaina stared back impassively, her arms crossed casually over her chest.

"Help... me." Callista managed to choke out as she began to ineffectually writhe under Mara's grip.

"Why should I help you, Callista?" Jaina asked with a calculated air of indifference. "Why should I stop Mara? You haven't given us enough information to persuade me to intervene yet. Surely if you really escaped, you must know something about the planet's security. Give me useful information, and I'll persuade Mara to let go."

Callista made a horrible pained, grasping noise and Jaina saw Mara's hand tighten about Callista's neck. "Yes," the word was barely a hiss of air.

"Good," Jaina's smile was victorious now. She paused for a moment, watching as the panic grew in Callistas's eyes. Finally she spoke, "Mara." Her voice was calm, but the word held the slightest hint of warning.

Mara's hand snapped open and she steeped back. "You will never again touch my son, Callista. You won't live that long."

Callista gasped fro breath as Jaina watched impatiently. "Start talking," Jaina said coldly, "Now. Everything you say will be recorded." Her smile held an unfriendly promise, "Don't lie. I'll be back to ask you more questions."

Jaina touched Mara's arm briefly as she headed towards the door to the small room. Callista watched them go. Her laughter was the first recorded sound.

In silence Jaina and Mara walked into another isolated room. They stood without a word. Jaina glared over at Mara. Her voice was harsh, with warning and surprisingly a bit of fear. "Don't ever do that again, Mara."

"She threatened my son, Jaina. She should be dead." She paused, and her green eyes with cold and hard with anger as she returned Jaina's glare, "Don't ever try to tell me what to do again, Jaina. I am not one of your little soldiers."

Jaina stopped as she reached for the door to let herself out. She turned back to face her aunt. "You grew up around the Dark side, Mara. Palpatine and Vader were your teachers. You saw Kyp's fall and you warned Uncle Luke of the way that it was tainting the way that he used the Force, but you've never experienced it yourself." Jaina stepped back from the door, moving towards Mara. "You've never felt that rage, that power, or that seductive pull. It is so easy. Do not play with that power, no matter how much of a danger Callista is presenting herself as." Jaina's voice was flat. "Don't cross that line. What happened in there was dangerously close."

"I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that Ben is safe from Callista, and you will not stop me, Jaina."

"Ben doesn't need his mother to be a Sith," Jaina countered sharply.

"You have used the Dark Side, Jaina," Mara reminded her pointedly. "I can feel it around you. You're not consumed by it, yet."

Jaina frowned. "The future is always changing, Mara, but some things have been in motion for a long time. I'm telling you that the Dark Side is not worth the risk. You don't need it to protect Ben. He will be in far more danger if you give in to that temptation. The Dark Side will exact its price for the use of its power. Don't make Ben pay the price for an outburst of temper, even if Callista does deserve to die."

Mara's voice was challenging, "Why do you cling to it then, Jaina?" Her niece's candor surprised her.

"You survive, Mara. You always have. You have a child and husband now." Jaina's voice was emotionless. "For some of us, it's not so easy to survive. I do what I have to. The Dark side probably saved me from simply giving up after Myrkr, but now I pay the price."

\- -

Jaina blinked pushing the memory of that earlier confrontation to the back of her mind. "Mara interrogated Callista for a moment," Jaina explained, picking up the thread of the conversation from where she had left off. "Callista agreed to provide us with more information." Jaina's expression twisted into a grimace, "It seemed to be in her best interest. All of the information that she gave us was recorded."

She handed Jag two more datapads. A cold shiver ran over her entire body, and she resisted the urge to jerk her hand back as if burned as her finger brushed up against one of his. "The first datapad," she explained quickly, "contains the information that Callista gave us. The second shows our revised plans."

Jag suddenly seemed very interested in the datapads that she had handed him. She watched him, waiting carefully for his opinion about the changes. A blush sprung up on his neck and began to quickly spread to his face and ears.

Jaina's jaw almost dropped in shock. She hadn't seen Jag blush before, not even on the very embarrassing occasion that Kam Solusar had caught them kissing in the halls of Shelter, and she couldn't think of anything blush worthy in the information that she had just given him. She looked down at her own datapad, still clutched in her hand, the hand that had brushed Jag's, searching for any possible answer.

Suddenly a barrage of images was assaulting her. Things that she had pushed to the back of her mind years ago, and then she realized why Jag was blushing. The Force, as it occasionally did, had chosen to give her direct access to what he was thinking. She almost immediately recognized the images as other times that she and Jag had spent alone in conference rooms together. In those days, working on missions hadn't been their first priority when they were alone in deserted conference rooms.

To her surprise, Jaina felt a hint of a real smile begin to form on her lips. "Jag," she started softly, wanting to say something, but unable to find the words to continue.

"Yes," Jag said coldly, and Jaina had to restrain herself from flinching.

She could feel the cool sheild of anger and fierce defensiveness fall over his mind again. Any chance that she might have had to speak to him was gone now. She shook her head slightly. "Nothing." This, she thought silently to herself, This is the price I pay for the Dark Side's influence on my life, Mara.


	36. It Begins

A Jedi Master, a Yuuzhan Vong Goddess, and a human pilot who had succeeded beyond the expectations of his adopted species, stood in a secluded corner of the loaned Imperial Star Destroyer, Harbinger's bridge. This was where Kyp would remain. Against his protests, it had been decided that he wouldn't be joining the strike team that would be assaulting the planet and attempting to rescue the prisoners held there. Kyp would be in charge of their mobile command base and nominally in charge of the whole mission. As one of the only three people who knew the entire plane, he would be in charge of coordinating the elements of their fleet in orbit around the planet. Jag would also be there, leading his squadron, in case something happened to Kyp or vice versa. Jaina would be the only one of the three totally out of contact with the Insider's fleet.

Jaina glanced slowly back and forth between the two men. They really had nothing else to say to one another. The mission plans had been confirmed for the final time and each were certain and confident of their individual roles in the coming mission. None of them had any need for a prebattle pep talk. At one time, they would have taken the moment to share not-quite- goodbye's. Jaina and Kyp would have sent each other reassuring emotions through their Force bond and centered themselves in their connection to each other and the Force in preparation for the coming fight.

Jaina and Jag would have been locked in a tight embrace or sharing a greedy kiss before they were forced to go their separate ways. Now all three were silent and motionless for what seemed like a small eternity. Jaina was the first to break the impasse with a swift glance at her chrono. She had less than ten standard minutes to get to her entry vessel. She took a deep breath and uttered only two words to the men facing her.

"Thank you." Her expression didn't seem to change, but for a moment, Jaina the Young Woman, was revealed from behind, Jaina the Warrior. It was a rare glimpse, Kyp knew, and her words were heartfelt. It was only a moment and a small gesture on her part, but it gave Kyp hope that the old Jaina, the so alive young Goddess that he had been the slightest bit in love with, wasn't dead yet.

He flashed her a cocky Kyp Durron grin, that he had perfected with years spent around arrogant Corellians, and sketched a mock bow in her direction. "Of course, Great One." A flicker of a smirk graced Jaina's face for an instant before it disappeared and Kyp knew it was time for him to go. Jaina had appreciated his words, but he wasn't the one that she needed to talk to. "May the Force be with you, Goddess." Kyp stepped past her quickly and out of the secluded alcove. His feet carried him around the corner and then abruptly he stopped. Something in the Force was holding him back.

"Thank you, Jaina?" His voice was low and angry, but carefully controlled. "Save your thanks for a man who wasn't coerced into joining you. Good bye, Goddess." He spun and walked sharply away, taking the opposite direction from what Kyp had chosen.

Jaina closed her eyes against the surge of painful emotions that he had brought out in her. When she opened her eyes it was all gone. What Jag had said, what Kyp had said, none of it mattered anymore. She, Jaina Solo, Yuuzhan Vong Goddess, and Sword of the Jedi, had a mission and she would succeed. Nothing, not even painful emotions would stop her.

This time it wasn't Jaina who summoned the dream. Instead she allowed it to steal over her. She had time. Jaina didn't have to search for her grandparents this time, either. They were simply there.

Padme wore a proud if slightly concerned expression as she greeted her granddaughter. Jaina was surprised to see the scar of remembrance painted on Padme's lip. Her grandmother wore it only rare occasions, usually when she was especially sad or thinking of her lost people.

Jaina looked quizzically back and forth between them. "You know I'm going after Jacen."

Anakin nodded, "Yes." He sounded grim and solemn. It was a far cry from the image of the wild, lighthearted and even somewhat mischievous young man that her grandfather often seemed to be.

"Do you have any advice for me?" She asked at last. The solemnity of the moment was oppressive and Jaina had the urge to fidget like the rawest of new apprentice's halfway through one of her Uncle's most boring and interminably long lectures.

Padme was the first to approach her. She smiled at Jaina, but the expression was bittersweet. "The Force is your ally," she said softly, "And your mind is your greatest weapon, but," she emphasized, "Don't forget to lead from here." She laid a hand over Jaina's hear. "Some of the greatest leaders and bravest heroes have been blind to the Force. When all else fails you, trust yourself and your heart, Jaina." She smiled sadly at her granddaughter. "I trust you." Padme's hand was a whisper of touch as it brushed Jaina's cheek and then Padme was gone.

Anakin gazed after his wife for a moment with a distant look in his eyes and then he moved to take her place in front of Jaina. "You're troubled."

"I am," Jaina confirmed needlessly. "I'm worried about Aunt Mara and," she started to continue, but bit the rest of her words back. She wasn't ready to reveal that yet, not even here in this secure place.

Anakin nodded, ignoring what she had started to say, and for once, Jaina was glad that she didn't have to give a full explanation. Through his complete connection to the force, he was aware of everything. "Mara Jade has always been strong in the Force and the years that she has spent with Luke have only strengthened her. You were right about her experiences with the Dark Side, but don't dismiss what Mara has seen. She is far from naïve. I understand your worries for her, but will not fall from the Light." Anakin smiled briefly. "She has known pain, suffering and loneliness in her life, Jaina, but the love of her husband and her child are what Mara treasures the most. She will fight, but she will stand strong- in the Light."

As he spoke, Anakin had started walking, with Jaina automatically falling into step next to him. He glanced over at Jaina, his entire expression serious and Jaina immediately sensed a change of topic coming. "You're the one that I'm worried about." He paused. "You know that the Force called you here for a reason today."

"Yes." Her voice was steady and unflinching.

"It is not a coincidence that your mission has started now. The time for you to make your Choice has come, Jaina. You will know it when it is upon you."

Jaina tried to muster a vague smile. She hated Force prophecies and the messages of cryptic deceased Jedi. Somehow her disgruntlement wasn't very comforting, however. As much as she wished to brush aside the mysteries of the Force, she knew better tan to dismiss anything that Anakin was saying. "Is there anything else that you can tell me?" She questioned him.

Anakin shook his head. "Your future is clouded. The Dark side hangs over the Force, weaving in misdirection and deception. Your future has always been entwined with your twins and that of a few others. Now the threads of your life are coming together again. What will be formed is your doing, Jaina."

She watched as Anakin Skywalker faded from her sight as well. Jaina stretched out to the world around her, feeling the Force in everything. The way its patterns and currents moved and flowed through everything thing here, even more so than the world's she was used to. The Force was in everything, here the Force was everything. This was good bye, Jaina knew, both to her grandparents and this place. Her arms stretched out from her sides and her hands reached outwards. She slowly began gathering the Force to her in a way that she had never done before. Jaina pulled it all towards her from everything around. It poured into her, good, bad and neither. It was time.


	37. Final Goodbyes

Kyp glanced at his chorno and the busy flurry of activity in the room around him. Techs were completing last minute checks, while officers readied their duty stations. None of the people there, were aware of what was already moving forward. As far as the commanders of this fleet were concerned, the first phase of the mission would begin with them. Kyp knew better. Even as the last minute preparations were being made aboard and the battle group was going on alert, Jaina and her strike team were entering the Daenaa system.

They were traveling in a small freighter that looked beaten by age. The hall was pot marked and pitted with battled damage and the ship looked as if it were only being held together by wishful thinking. Unlike with the Millennium Falcon, however, the appearances of the freighter were not deceiving. By Kyp's estimation the freighter would last for about three minutes after it came out of hyperspace. It wasn't however, a suicide mission, or at least that aspect of the mission wasn't.

Jaina and the rest of her team were using a technique that had last been used to infiltrate Coruscant, not long after the capital world's fall. In a plan designed by the Wraith's years ago, the strike team would fall to the ground like burning debris. The explosion from the freighter would provide the perfect cover for them. The only danger would be from the very real possibility of the real debris from the freighter striking Jaina's team as they made their descent. By the time that the fleets that Kyp was leading arrived, there would be very little evidence of the freighter's existence left. The few remaining traces of debris would quickly be dismissed from the minds of the officers under Kyp's command as the threat of the Vong loomed in front of them.

It would offer Jaina an undetected entry, undetected from both the Vong and from the Insiders fleet. Exiting the planet once the mission was completed was another matter, however, and a very dangerous one at that.

"Master Durron?"

"Yes, Captain Slarne," he prompted the man. He didn't know Slarne well, but his reputation as a bold, but fair and even headed captain had preceded him.

"Colonel Fel has requested to speak with you."

"Patch him into my headset," Kyp said briskly, putting aside other extraneous thoughts and focusing his full attention on the coming fight, "Directly into my headset," he added a moment later, "I don't even want the Comm. tech listening in," he clarified. It was one of the ways that news traveled the fastest aboard a ship. Communications technicians were supposed to be discreet about what they heard, but in reality, they often weren't. Even now they couldn't afford an information leak. Anyone, even here could be a Vong sympathizer.

Kyp's headset crackled with static and he spoke quietly into his microphone. "Are the squadrons ready, Colonel Fel?"

Jag's voice was matter of fact as he launched into a thoroughly detailed report on the status of the squadrons that would be flying under his command. "Everything is ready and going according to our plan so far," he concluded a moment later.

"Good," Kyp said somewhat distractedly. He had been paying attention to Jag, but he had been unable to forget the conversation that he had overheard between Jaina and Jag in their parting conversation.

Years ago that parting would have been very different, Kyp knew, and back then it had seemed like what was between Jaina and Jag would never change. He sighed with the weariness of age and knowledge. Kyp had been putting off the need to speak with Jag since the Chiss raised Colonel had returned to Known Space, partly because he didn't think it was any of his business and also because he knew Jaina wouldn't want him to get involved in the situation. The situation, however, had changed.

It was time to have this conversation, now. Jaina could wrathfully hunt him down after and if they both survived this mission. "Jag," he said calmly, "There's something that you need to be aware of."

Static filled his hearing as Jag hesitated before he replied, "What do I need to know, Master Jedi?" His voice was grim, but decidedly resigned, "What trick or surprise has the Goddess left for us now?"

Kyp scowled. He understood, of course, at least part of the reason that both Jaina and Jag were furious with the other, but his protective side still didn't like to see Jag lay the blame for anything that went wrong or might possibly go wrong on Jaina. "Despite the fact that Jaina once hurt you, Fel," Kyp growled, "Not everything in the galaxy is her fault. In fact some of the blame falls on your shoulders as well." Kyp's words, although gaining in intensity throughout his entire speech, hadn't gotten much louder than a low growl in an attempt not to broadcast their conversation to the entire fleet. "Also, Fel, just to set the record perfectly straight as you like it, you should know something. Years ago you left Jaina, after, of course, you promised her that you would never leave her."

If Jag was surprised at all because of Kyp's outburst it wasn't apparent in his voice. Instead he replied with a heated fury that usual for the icy Colonel to display. "I left because she seemed to be more than happy with another man. It seemed quite apparent when she was trying to get better acquainted with Zekk's tonsils."

Kyp's response was derisive. "You never thought to question why Jaina had acted like that when she had been acting as if you were the only man in the galaxy worthy of her attention for weeks. She had just almost sithing died for you, Fel."

"What was I supposed to think, Durron? Clearly Jaina prefers to date someone who she sees as her equal, a Jedi Knight like Zekk."

Kyp grimaced. He had wanted to help Jaina, not become a relationship councilor. "Fel, we could continue to argue about this, but we don't have time. You do need to know one thing, however." Kyp didn't allow Jag a chance to interrupt this time. "When Jaina kissed Zekk on Shelter, she was under the influence of severe amphistaff poisoning. She had just been through a Force vision combined with poison induced hallucinations. Jaina thought that Zekk was you, when she kissed him."

Jaina Solo closed her eyes in anticipation. She could feel it coming through the Force. The first volley of molten plasma that had been directed at the freighter by the swarm of skips that were attacking them, had been enough to overwhelm the freighter's less than stellar shields. Jaina could feel the freighter's hull weakening with every bit of molten plasma that hit it. The only thing protecting she and the rest of her team from each plasma missile was that burst through the hull was a strong internal shield that had been rigged inside the freighter especially for that purpose.

Jaina could feel the frequency of the freighter's shudders grow as more and more plasma missiles tore into it. Even behind her tightly closed eyelids, Jaina could see the brilliant white light of the explosion around them. If the shield surrounding them lost power, even for one critical moment, then they were all dead. Through the Force, she felt the shield absorb the impact and...hold. Unconsciously she stopped breathing as the seconds slowed in her mind as she counted them off. She gasped as the shield simultaneously failed and the force of the explosion pushed them clear of the freighter's debris and towards the planet's surface.

If anything the adrenaline rushed through her blood quicker as their descent began. At first it seemed as if she were moving painfully slow, as if her fall would never be over and then the planet's surface was rushing up at her faster and faster with each passing second. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more worried when the speed of her descent was blurred from her view by the wall of flames created by the friction of her descent. Her descent was so obscured that she could only see the ground rush up to meet her 'vehicle' a second before it did As it was she barely had time to brace herself and despite the repulsorlift's efforts at compensation, the force at which it hit the ground was sufficient to knock her clear of it entirely. It only took Jaina moment to role to her feet. They only had a short window of opportunity to retrieve the prisoner while the battle raged overhead in orbit. Time as much as the Yuuzhan Vong was their enemy now.


	38. The Mission in Action

A coufee blade was thrust roughly towards Jaina. She barely had enough room to twist out of the way of the Vong blade. As it was, she could feel the flat of the blade slide against her skin. With a flick of her right hand she tangled the blade of her lightsaber with her other opponents amphistaff and slashed her blade down and away from her sharply. Without looking she wrapped her arm around the Yuuzhan Vong arm that had just attempted to stab her and jerked it up quickly at a point that wasn't meant to bend. With her adrenaline increased strength, Jaina felt the bone give way beneath her assault. Not giving the warrior time any time to think or react, she pulled him closer to her with one arm and then reversed the direction of his arm, the one holding the coufee, with as much strength as she could muster.

The coufee drove through the warrior's armor, striking Jaina's intended target. As close as she was to her opponent, he acted as a shield from her second opponent's amphistaff swing. She stepped away from the first warrior quickly and let him fall to the ground. Taking advantage of the second warriors split second of hesitation as he tried to remove his amphistaff, Jaina aimed a powerful slash at his neck, the weak spot in his armor. Even through the noise of the battle, the sharp whine of blaster fire, grunts, groans, sickening thuds, screams of pain and rage, the clash of weaponry against weaponry, Jaina heard the distinctive and unfortunately familiar sound of lightsaber meeting amphistaff, from behind her.

Jaina whirled around to find Mara blocking a downward amphistaff strike that Jaina wouldn't have survived had it struck. She didn't allow herself any time to think or panic over what could have happened, instead she took advantage of the situation, leaving only a gaping wound in his torso. Jaina didn't even stop moving to search for her next opponent. The fight had long since turned into a never ending blur of motion. There was no time for logic, only time for action and reaction. Jaina wasn't even sure how long they had been fighting at this point, or who among her small strike team was even alive. She could dimly hear someone on the headset of her comm. link, but whatever they were saying was easily lost in the roar of combat.

Jaina jerked back as an amphistaff swung towards her in a sharp arc. She didn't even feel it as the crest of the creatures head sliced across her chest. She ducked the warriors next swing and scooped up a handful of blorash jelly from the bandolier of another dead Vong warrior. She flung it quickly in the face of her attacker and dispatched him in the next moment. Jaina used the moments reprieve to take a wild glance around at the fight. This was insanity. Something was wrong here. Something more than the mere presence of the Yuuzhan Vong, it meant that some part of their mission had gone wrong and Jaina had an idea of who to blame for that failure. Jaina looked forward to dealing with Callista when the time came. She just had to live through this battle.

The compound housing the prisoners had contained more guards than Callista had informed them of. A combination of bad luck and bad timing had forced Jaina's hand into an all out fight. There was no way that she would back down now. If she had to fight through every Vong one at a time, to get to her brother and the other prisoners, she would. A loud explosion shook the ground beneath her feet, and the moment of silence following the explosion was almost deafening. Jaina didn't even have to look up to know which member of her strike team had made that contribution. She had hesitated to bring, Teara Aod, one of her squadron's newest members because she wasn't one of Jaina's top hand to hand combat fighters. At the last minute Jaina had included her because of one thing, Teara's munitions training. The woman had trained under Kell Tainer, and she was rumored to be his finest student.

Two more Vong fell to Jaina's lightsaber as she tried to survey what Teara had accomplished. It only took her a moment to discover what the woman had done. Jaina wasn't sure how Teara had placed the explosives, but she had succeeded in bringing down part of the large wall guarding the compound. It provided Jaina's strike team with another entrance to the compound, not one long gauntlet that they had to fight there way through.

Jaina was the last person out of the fight, as the non-Jedi members of her strike team covered her retreat with sprays of blaster fire, directed at the Yuuzhan Vong. As her team ran towards their new entrance, Jaina took a quick report on the status of all of her team members, offering quick words of encouragement and praise as she passed through the small group until she reached Mara. The older woman was fiercely focused on Callista, who was jogging beside Brantur, who had taken the point position for the moment. It was rare that Jaina had fought with a person that she respected enough or knew well enough to ask advice from during a conflict in the recent years of the war, but Mara qualified on both counts.

Twisting her microphone away from her mouth, Jaina shot another glance over at Mara as they ran. "Any suggestions, Aunt Mara?"

Mara's expression was still distant. "Have you been able to sense Jacen?"

Jaina's stride almost faltered and only years of military discipline kept her from falling out of the rhythm of their run. It had been so long since she had been able to sense Jacen through the Force that she hadn't even thought of the most obvious plan of action. She stretched out to the Force boldly, holding back nothing as she dove into its currents, trying as quickly as possible to push past the great disturbance that now surrounded the planet, to find the her connection to Jacen.

Jaina gasped. "I know where he is." Her voice was a mix of absolute certainty and horror.


	39. The Mission Continues

Jaina reached through the Force towards her connection with Jacen, strengthening the ever present connection between them. She could hardly believe what she was sensing. Jacen was ...alive. It was almost a foreign concept. But with the knowledge that he was alive, there also came an abrupt realization. If she hadn't been searching specifically for Jacen through the Force, Jaina didn't think she would have recognized his unique presence in the Force. Her twin's mental presence was so unfamiliar to Jaina that she almost flinched back from his mental touch. His mind was completely unfamiliar.

The brother that she had grown up with, her other half, was gone. She could find no trace of that person in Jacen's mind. It wasn't like his memories were gone, he was simply different. It was so different in fact, that Jaina was almost having difficulties maintaining the connection between them.

"I know where he is," Jaina breathed quietly, almost in disbelief.

Mara looked at her niece sharply. "You have to make some decisions here, Jaina." Mara's voice was firm, but not unkind. She understood the stakes of the mission and everything that Jaina was dealing with, but she also trusted Jaina's abilities and her judgment. At the moment, however, support was all that Jaina needed, whether she would admit it or not.

"I know." Mara could already sense a change in Jaina. The shock that sensing her twin through the Force had given Jaina was already being pushed to the back of Jaina's mind so that she could examine the situation more clearly. "Mara," she said quickly and quietly, her brown eyes sparkling with a flash of an idea. "I have to go after Jacen." Jaina paused, and looked speculatively at her master, "You aren't going to like this," she said at last.

"You want to go after Jacen by yourself." Mara said blandly.

Jaina nodded, waiting for her former Master to comment.

"I'll take Callista and the rest of the strike team to retrieve the rest of the prisoners." She smiled tightly at her niece, "Be careful, Jaina."

Jaina accepted the warning with a grateful nod. She spotted Callista among her team members quickly.

Mara followed her gaze easily. "I can handle, Callista," she said grimly, "I've already proven that. Don't worry about me, Jaina," she said quietly, knowing without even having to sense Jaina's feelings through the Force, what her niece was worried about. Mara had her temper firmly under control, now, however. It had been years since she had lost control of her emotions in that way and she wasn't about to slip to the Dark side for the sake of vengeance against Callista. She would never be able to look her son in the eye again if she did. "Go, Jaina." She said firmly.

Mara turned away from her niece, and focused on the team that was now hers. Quickly she began issuing orders. "Brantur, bring up the rear." She turned a frosty glare on Callista. "You'll be leading us. Take the shortest route to the prisoners."

Callista didn't move or even react to what Mara had said. Instead she gazed laconically at Mara as the other members of the strike team quickly fell into their marching order. Her gray eyed stare was an open challenge. Make me.

Mara didn't hesitate, or repeat her command. The lightsaber that was already in her hand was ignited even as it began its sweep towards Callista's head. For a heart beat, the dark Jedi wasn't moving. Her eyes, her body language were all calling Mara's bluff and then Callista was sprawled in an ignominious heap on the ground. The trickle of blood where Mara's blade had grazed her neck was proof that Mara was not, in fact, bluffing. Callista had barely been able to move fast enough to avoid being decapitated,

Mara stared down at Callista, her lightsaber held in one hand. "You don't move; You die." Mara's simple statement sent chills down the spines of those listening. Callista simply picked herself up off of the ground and started walking. The look of amusement that had appeared on Callista's face at Mara's threat never left.

"Dorik Vong Pratte!"

The Yuuzhan Vong war cry caught Jaina off guard as the trio of warriors charged at her. She had managed to avoid confrontations until then, slipping through the compound as nothing more than a silent shadow. She hadn't really expected to reach Jacen unchallenged. Jaina could truly feel him now. The weight of his presence was looming large in her mind. She was so close.

The first warrior's amphistaff swung in an arc that would have bisected her. At the last moment, Jaina leaped, drawing on the Force to flip over his head until she landed between he and his companions. The moment she landed, she was met with a flurry of activity. Amphistaffs sliced through the air towards her and blurred into a tangle of chops, lunges and parries all around. Drawing on everything that Mara had taught her, Jaina carefully kept an awareness of where her attackers were at all times. Without the Force, a moment of inattention could get her killed in an instant.

The purple blade of her lightsaber sliced a thud bug in half and Jaina was barely able to bring it back around in time to intercept another amphistaff. The Vong warrior released an animalistic howl to the gods. As she half-turned to block another incoming blow, the first warrior hurled his amphistaff directly at her, like a spear. With her lightsaber tangled in a duel with another amphistaff there was no way that she could use it to knock the amphistaff hurling towards her out of the air.

A graceless, but powerful kick to the leg of the warrior that was using his amphistaff to block her lightsaber, sent him crashing to the ground. Jaina let herself collapse on top of the warrior. The amphistaff didn't quite miss her, but the blow wasn't fatal. Her fall was enough to make the amphistaff miss her head. The snake like head of the amphistaff, instead, buried itself sharply into the back of her shoulder blade. Jaina couldn't stifle her scream of pain. Her pain fogged mind barely even registered the amphistaff of the warrior that she had knocked to the ground as it resumed its mobile snake like form. It whipped towards Jaina with fangs visible, preparing to deliver a lethal bite. Its fangs were barely an inch from Jaina when it exploded. Jaina recognized the distinctive sound of charric fire as she fell unconscious.

Blaster fire charged the air around Mara as she rapidly blocked incoming thud buys. "Teara," she called quickly to Jaina's demolitions expert, "Thermal detonator, now."

The woman reacted quickly, pulling one off of her bandolier and lobbing it towards Mara. It changed direction in mid air and sailed towards the group of Vong that had them pinned down. With Force guided precision the detonator dropped at precisely the right location. Another second of concentration, on Mara's behalf, detonated the explosive in the midst of the Vong. The few remaining warriors were easily picked of by the other members of the strike team and as one they surged towards the heavily protected corridor that they had just secured.

Mara was the last to reach the relative safety, as she covered Brantur as the large being carried one of his teammates with him. She slid in behind the rest of her team, watching as Brantur lowered his injured wingmate to the floor. Mara couldn't quite remember his name, but she thought he was Twin Four. Twin Six, the team's medic quickly started attending to the injuries as best as it could.

Mara looked over at Callista. While the woman wasn't actually harming Mara's team, she certainly wasn't making any effort to help them. "Where do we go now, Callista," Mara demanded quickly, keeping a careful eye on the approaching Vong warriors. They didn't have time to linger there.

For once Callista didn't try to delay, she simply pointed. Mara quickly followed the line of Callista's gesture until she saw what Callista was pointing to. A large opening was blocked by a solid piece of...something. Unlike most of the things that passed for doors among the Yuuzhan Vong, this one wasn't transparent. Without wasting another moment in her assessment, Mara ran quickly towards the door and sank the blue blade of her lightsaber in until it was almost up to the handle. With effort she quickly carved out a small hole. To Mara's dismay, she realized that her lightsaber hadn't even penetrated the opposite side of the 'door.'

"Teara," she called a moment later. The woman appeared next to Mara quickly. After a quick look of assessment she began pulling explosives out of her bag without a word from Mara.

"The prisoners are in there."

Mara almost jumped and she barely managed to keep the shock off of her face. She hadn't even felt Callista approach her. When Callista chose to cut herself off from the Dark side, she was once again invisible through the Force. It did nothing to make Mara trust Callista more. Separating herself from the Dark side didn't mean that Callista's intentions were any less harmful or dangerous than they had before. It just allowed Callista to hide her feelings from Mara better. If anything the sudden change made Mara more suspicious and way. However, there was nothing that could be done about it at the moment. The prisoners were still their first priority, even if Callista betraying them to the Vong.

"Back!" Mara didn't resist as Teara quickly pushed her towards the corner where the rest of the strike team waited. Chunks of whatever substance the 'door' was made out of had barely hit the ground before the strike team was once again in motion, racing towards the opening.

Mara took a moment to shear off the head of an amphistaff thrown spear like towards her by the rapidly approaching group of Yuuzhan Vong warriors before she caught back up with the rest of her team. She fleetingly wished that there was some way that they could have gained entrance without destroying the 'door.' It would have been excellent to be able to shut the Vong out. Her team slowed slightly as they entered the cavernous room, glancing around carefully for any hidden warriors or traps.

All around the large open space, Mara saw the desolate faces of prisoners, beings of many races, ranks and walks of life, who barely looked up at the sudden intrusion.

"Be careful," Mara admonished her team, "but hurry. Once we free them we need to move." Heeding her own words, Mara quickly moved into the large room, making sure that Callista was in her sight and near her at all times as she began freeing prisoners.

As more people were freed from their restraints and the loud announcements from Mara and the other members of the strike team stating that they were there to rescue the prisoners began to sink in, the dazed being began to become more animated. With a matter of seconds a surge of beings were moving towards the exit.

Mara quickly scanned the area for those who were too weak or injured to walk, and conveyed them to a member of the strike team before she ventured deeper into the large room. After all of their effort in getting to the prisoners, Mara refused to leave any of them behind. A shadow in a darkened corner, a person curled in upon themselves, covered in grimy clothing, painfully knotted scars and Yuuzhan Vong, caught her attention. Mara was still several meters away from the being when her danger sense began to scream a warning.

Mara glanced around quickly, but she couldn't see any danger. Her first thought was: Callista, but the other woman seemed to once again not be doing anything. The next moment the ground was shaking beneath her feet.


	40. Personal Mission

Jaina woke to both a familiar and unfamiliar sensation. The burning pain in the back of her shoulder provided her with the familiar sensation. It took her a moment to analyze the unfamiliar sensation.

She was being cradled protectively in someone's arms. Someone who cared about her, her mind offered, a moment later. She took a moment to savor the situation, snuggling more closely into the comforting embrace before the realization of just how wrong her situation was, hit her. She was in Vong territory and voluntarily separated from the strike team that she had infiltrated the planet with. There should have been no one to rescue her. That thought provoked another and suddenly memories began to come back to her. She remembered the realization that she would die and the sudden bolt of charric fire that had saved her.

It was enough to trigger a strong reaction in Jaina. With a supreme concentration of effort, she forced her eyes open and immediately confirmed her growing suspicions. "Jag," she demanded, although not as forcefully as she had intended.

He looked down at her quickly, turning his attention from where they were to focus on her. "Jaina!" Instead of launching into the recriminations that Jaina had immediately expected to hear from him, his voice was gentle and almost tentative. "You're awake," he stated the obvious. "That's a good sign," he continued quickly, "It means that it probably didn't have a chance to poison you before I removed the amphistaff. I bandaged your shoulder the best that I could and applied a bacta patch," he explained.

Her first instinct was to reply coldly, maintaining the harsh distance that had seemed to become a normal part of their everyday interactions. Before she could speak, however, she felt another wave of confusion come over her. The emotions that had been long dormant under her pain and anger surfaced bringing out a wave of concern for him. There was no reason for Jag to be there. In fact, it was almost impossible for him to be there.

"Jag," she asked quietly, "what are you doing here?" Her voice wasn't angry or demanding, it was almost gentle.

"I-" he stumbled to a stop hesitating about his response. He didn't look at her, but he didn't put her down either. He stopped speaking and then glanced quickly up to meet Jaina's eyes. He almost seemed to be challenging her, either to interrupt or to deny what he was about to say. "Kyp told me what really happened on Shelter. He told me that you were hallucinating, and that you didn't know it was Zekk."

Jaina blinked in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting to hear - that wasn't it. "Put me down," she said quietly.

Jag frowned, but did as she asked.

She swayed slightly as she balanced her weight on her own two feet again. Jaina didn't object as Jag automatically reached a hand out to catch her arm, steadying her. "That's in the past, Jag," she said quietly. "We've both changed since then." She seemed not to even remember where they were or the possible dangers that surrounded them. He started to speak again, but she cut him off. "I'm sorry that I dragged both you and Cem into this," she continued. "I'm not sure why you're here or why you saved my life, but, thank you." She met his eyes steadily. "I don't know how you got down here, but you don't have to stay. You can go rejoin your squadron. You and Cem may leave as soon as you have an opening."

She started to turn away, but stopped abruptly, as his hand tightened on her arm. "Jaina." His voice demanded her attention. She turned back to face him as he took another step closer to her. "Jaina," he explained hastily, "I was worried about you, and Kyp could sense that you were in trouble." He took a deep breath. "I came here to help you. I didn't come here to leave you again. I've done that enough already. I wanted to apologize for not trusting you, then or now. I promised you once that I would never leave you," he added with quiet intensity, "I broke that promise once. I don't intend to do it again. You're injured," he stated softly. "Let me stay with you, at least until this mission is completed."

Jaina had stopped hearing his words a moment earlier, however. Instead she seemed to be entranced by what she saw in his eyes and his face. For the first time since Jag had come back to Known Space, she didn't see hatred or hard cold anger in his eyes. He met her gaze openly, not hiding anything from her. She cocked her head quizzically.

"Jag," the whispered word was filled with a multitude of emotions. It asked all of the questions that Jaina was afraid to. His only response was to lean down closer to her. She didn't flinch or move away from him. Keeping her eyes locked on his, she didn't move as he lowered his lips tentatively to hers.

They pulled apart after a long moment. Neither of them seemed to know what to say. Jag started to speak, but stopped as Jaina gently placed a finger on his lips. "Thank you," she whispered quietly, "for everything."

She started to continued, but Jag gently grabbed a hold of her hand, holding it securely between them as he leaned towards her with another kiss. Jaina was lost in the sensation, lost in Jag's kiss, and the wonderful feeling of his lips against her. It had been years since she had felt this safe, this lo-

Her thought was cut off abruptly as the ground began to tremble beneath them. It was enough to draw them out of their kiss and force them to refocus on the mission.

"I have to find Jacen," she said quickly. "Something's wrong. I can't leave without him, not when I'm this close."

Jag nodded, "I know." Involuntarily his lips seemed to form into a smile. He gestured for her to go first, "As you lead, Goddess. I have you back."

Despite the seriousness of the situation that they were in and the constant threat of death and capture, Jaina felt more lighthearted than she had in years. The throbbing pain in her shoulder had faded to a dull ache under the healing effects of the bacta patch and Jag's blissful distractions. She couldn't restrain a cocky Solo grin. Jaina leaned over to kiss him quickly, savoring every detail of it until he pulled away. "Let's go."

The floor began to crack, small faults running out across the floor. Mounds of floor and the ground underneath it began to heave up, while other places sunk just as rapidly. The prisoners and members of the strike team alike began to race for the door.

Mara stumbled and caught her balance as the ground began to shake harder. She turned away from the increasing upheaval in front of her, and glanced back towards the being in the shadows. The shaking intensified again as she lurched towards the being. The next seizure of the earth literally knocked her to the ground. Loose pieces of the ceiling high over head began to reign down overhead as Mara climbed quickly back to her feet.

She took one more step towards the being and then jerked back as the sound of an amphistaff slicing through the air gave her a mere moment of warning. She deflected the second blow with her lightsaber and then disengaged, stepping back to catch her balance. "Callista," she growled as she was finally able to fully look at the person holding the amphistaff. With a rush, Mara felt Callista's Dark presence return to the Force. The woman was holding back nothing now. She was reveling in her rage and she was channeling it all at Mara.

"Jade," her words were accompanied by a smirk. She feinted a small unambitious slash towards Mara's right side. Mara blocked it easily. "Are you ready to [i]become one with the Force," Callista sneered. Dark energy formed almost a halo around Callista. Her grey eyes were consumed by rage as she launched a series of furious attacks on Mara.

Both women barely noticed the upheaval of the large room around them, compensating for the disturbances automatically. "Killing you will only be the beginning, Jade," Callista gloated aiming a kick at Mara's midsection. The amphistaff in her hand lost its rigidity and coiled around Mara's blue blade. With a well timed yank of her amphistaff coupled with a rather large shudder that rocked the entire room, Callista emphasized her next words with another powerful blow to Mara's torso. "Your son will be mine," Callista spun, ducking Mara's next low and came back up to land a punishing blow to Mara's head.

Mara staggered. "He will loathe you as the person you really are and he will flourish under my tutelage." She paused, savoring Mara's pain. The cavernous room rocked again, with the largest disturbance thus far. Mara used the interruption to stager back several steps.

Callista laughed interpreting Mara's move as one born of fear. "You should be afraid. I will have everything that you cherish. Luke will be mine. He will rule at my side as my Dark consort and he will realize the error of his feelings for you and the ways that you have deceived him."

Mara couldn't even hear Callista. Even as the words washed over her, she denied them sharply. She focused intently instead on the pattern of tremors. Mara raised her lightsaber in front of her and straightened to her full height. She met Callista's next amphistaff blow solidly with her lightsaber.

"No."

It was one word, but the entire room seemed to echo with it. It only took Mara a moment to realize that the word really had echoed. Silence reigned in the large room with the exception of the loud crash of their traded blows. No more rocks feel from the ceiling. The ground was steady and firm.

And then the bottom fell out literally. A section of the ground, approximately ten or fifteen meters wide, between Mara and the fleeing prisoners suddenly collapsed into a large sinkhole like area.

No one took the time to gawk at the sudden change in geography. Prisoners and rescuers a like scrambled towards the exit. Teara, one of the members of the strike team that was guarding the rear, shouted questioningly at Mara, "What are your orders?"

"Get the prisoners out of here and get off planet." She didn't even turn to see if Teara had followed her orders. Mara didn't allow herself to think about it for the moment. How she was going to make her exit would no longer matter, if Callista killed her.

The confident smile on Callista's face only grew. Mara's danger sense was, once again, screaming. Callista raised one hand towards Mara. Still slightly sluggish from several of Callista's blows to the head, Mara's blue blade barely slipped into position soon enough to intercept the Force lightening that Callista had shot at her.

Mara responded by taking two steps forward. Seizing the initiative of the moment, she aimed a horizontal slice at Callista. Callista quickly parried the blade away and danced back. This time Mara did hesitate. She was unwilling to follow Callista if she was being led into a trap. A shrieking roar rent the air, almost deafening Mara as the ground exploded up beneath her feet. The sudden eruption of the ground beneath her, tossed her into the air and she slammed painfully back into the ground again a meter away. So fast that she couldn't properly see it, something whipped out from behind Mara.

Her wrist almost snapped as it wrapped around her hand with bone crushing strength. In the next moment, whatever it was, was gone- along with her lightsaber. Mara attempted to rise to her feet, but feel back to the ground writhing in agony as Callista directed another blast of force lightening at her. When she no longer had the strength to fight its effects or the breath to scream from the pain, Callista topped.

She towered over Mara. "You're no Jedi, Jade," she sneered, "You are nothing. No one will come back for you. No one is here to save you. You will die and you will be forgotten." Callista raised her amphistaff one final time and brought it down quickly towards Mara for a fatal blow.

Mara gathered all of her strength, but she couldn't even force her muscles to stop twitching, much less roll away from the incoming blow. The amphistaff fell towards her.

An arc of purple light slid between Mara and the amphistaff. The amphistaff crashed into the purple blade in a crackle of violent energy. The lightsaber held, inches away from Mara.

"Hello, Callista."


	41. Dueling

The two women were locked into a fierce struggle, neither willing to back down. Slowly but surely Jaina forced her lightsaber up, shoving Callista back away from Mara.

Carefully Callista circled around Jaina. "Back to save your weak little Master, Jaina," she taunted. "Do you see how easily she falls? She is no Jedi. Mara Jade isn't even worth-"

Jaina's amethyst blade flashed through the air, cutting Callista off as she tried to parry Jaina's blows. "You-" Jaina's lightsaber crashed into Callista's amphistaff. She pivoted into the powerful strike and snapped her elbow hard into Callista's face. "Are-" She forced Callista to jump back as she swept her lightsaber towards Callista's legs. "Wrong." Her purple blade swept back up and slammed into Callista's amphistaff with enough momentum to knock the other woman off balance.

Callista's laughter echoed through the room. "You think you can defeat me so easily."

Jaina could feel the Dark side gathering around Callista. Even Jag, who had moved to check on Mara once Jaina had lured Callista away, could feel its presence in the air. Jaina simply looked at Callista in disgust. "Please not this again. We've already proven that I can dispel whatever you can create."

"The power of the Dark side is beyond what you can imagine. You can do nothing to stop me."

Jaina didn't waste the time to point out that she had already stopped Callista twice and that she had more than enough experience with the Dark side, herself. She switched her lightsaber to a one handed grip. With the other hand, she slipped loose one of her vibroblades. In a blur of motion, the vibroblade flew towards Callista. It stopped inches from her face and hung in mid air. Callista's expression was disdainful. Jaina surged towards her, lightsaber raised. Callista didn't move as Jaina quickly covered the two meters between them.

Dark energy bled out from her, channeled away from Callista. As Jaina's lightsaber began its downward descent, Callista screamed a single word. Even in her state of complete focus on her target, Jaina recognized the word as Yuuzhan Vong in origin. Her lightsaber crashed in Callista's amphistaff and then Jaina was spinning away from her at the same moment that Jag shouted a warning from behind her. Before Jaina could even focus on the source of this new threat, she was flung away from them and slammed into the far wall with enough momentum to break the stone like substance and bring it crashing down around her. She lay crumpled on the floor in an unmoving heap.

"Jaina!" Jag's anguished shout was lost in the rest of the noise. In a frenzy of whipping tentacles, a large beast rose out of the recently created hole, shaking off the last of the dirt and flooring that had covered it, as it rose. As one tentacle lashed out towards Mara, Jag quickly pulled the Jedi Master back away from it. He wrapped one arm around Mara's torso, pulling her towards the relative safety of the corner and used the other hand to send a barrage of Charric fire at the giant creature. It didn't even seem to notice.

"Mara," Jag said softly under his breath, "If you're conscious, now would be a really good time to come up with something to kill this thing." He had hardly come prepared to fight something like this, especially not while Callista was stomping around, unchecked in all of her Dark fury.

If the creature hadn't noticed Jag's attack, Callista definitely had. "We meet again, Jagged Fel." She glanced towards Jaina's half buried form. "You seem to have a bad habit of following the wrong people."

Jag didn't reply, he simply aimed his charric at Callista and fired. Callista knocked the first few shots away with the palm of her hand and then seemed to grow bored. With a flick of her hand, she used the Force to rip his charric out of his hand and throw it harmlessly aside.

"It's a shame your girlfriend won't be awake to see this." With another gesture, Jag felt himself rise off of the floor and slam into a wall hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. What had been a gesture of trust between he and Jaina was nothing more than another method to torture him, coming from Callista. She released a burst of Force lightening towards Jag.

He struggled to move, to avoid it, even to fall to the ground several meters below, but he was effectively pinned in place by her Force grip. Jag had no chance to avoid it. The first burst made him forget that he was suspended in the air. The second and third had him writhing in agony as his screams echoed around the large room. Callista smiled at her work. "Or perhaps," she added speculatively, "I'll wait until she wakes up. Then she can watch you suffer."

In her preoccupation with Jag, Callista never noticed a small silver cylinder as it flew across the room. It landed with a comforting slap in the palm of Mara's hand. The Force, which had been surging around the large chamber as Dark battled Light, was drawn subtly towards Mara. Callista never sensed the subtle display of power until it was far too later. The small channels of energy that Mara had carefully been drawing up since the creature had knocked her down, surged through Mara. With almost inhuman speed Mara gained her feet.

Callista was barely able to block Mara's first and second blows. The third sheared the crested head off of her amphistaff. Mara's fourth blow never struck its intended target. Callista moved forward instead of away from Mara, deflecting the lightsaber with the edge of a coufee held in her right hand. The couffee in Callista's left hand found its mark with a sickening noise. Mara staggered in surprise, one hand automatically going to grip the couffee lodged in her abdomen, but didn't falter. Her next thrust, which still had surprising power behind it, found its target with lethal accuracy.

Callista fell to the ground beside Mara in disbelief as her life seeped away from her. "You think you've won, Jade," her voice gurgled with her injuries. "You will never win. You think that I am your sole enemy. You have no idea of the power of what you are truly facing." She twitched a finger towards the beast that somehow seemed more or less dormant now. "I didn't create that or call it forth." Callista laughed, painfully. "He did. He is the ultimate product of the Yuuzhan Vong. You will not escape from him. He will destroy you all." Her insane laughter echoed in the room until her last breath left her.

[hr]

Mara couldn't see anything as she peered into the shadows of the room, examining the destruction that they had created. She could see Jag and Jaina, both sprawled immobile and mostly unconscious on the floor against far walls. It wasn't a sight that inspired hope. She might have killed Callista, but Mara could see her own wound. She could see her blood slipping away despite her best efforts to keep pressure on the wound. If she didn't get medical attention soon, she would die too.

As Mara tried to regain her feet, her mind went to Jaina and Jag. It was impossible to know which one was more severely injured. Jag, however, was closer to her.

"Mara," the voice was distant in her ears. An unsteady hand slipped under her arm, supporting Mara somewhat. "You're injured." Mara could hear the shock in Jaina's voice. It was mixed with fear and disbelief. "Aunt Mara," the voice was more demanding this time.

Mara responded by clenching her hand around the arm supporting her in a vice like grip. She felt Jaina gently lower her back to the ground, and almost fall on top of her, as Jaina stumbled. "Jaina," her hand squeezed Jaina's arm for a moment, stopping her from moving away.

Her niece leaned back towards her. "I'm here, Aunt Mara."

"Call, Kyp. Teara's extracting prisoners," she stumbled over the words.

Jaina nodded, "I will. I am. He already knows that I need help." She looked up to meet Mara's eyes and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be back. I have to go get Jag."

Even through the haze of her injury, a corner of Mara's mouth lifted up into a shadow of a smile. Despite the dire nature of the circumstances, she could hear it in Jaina's voice. Something had changed between Jaina and Jag. For the better, Mara would guess, just since they had appeared. Mara made a mental note to ask how Jag had gotten to be there, if they ever made it to safety. Her mind wandered for a moment in a barely coherent manner. She barely even noticed as Jaina sat Jag down next to her.

"Mara," Jaina's voice was calling her again, intent on regaining her attention. "Mara, I can't remove the coufee." Jaina's voice was worried. Even in the few moments that she had been gone, Jaina could see how much blood Mara had lost. "I think it would cause more damage if I tried to remove it. Can you manage a healing trance? Help should be on the way."

"Jaina!" Even in her injured state the sudden move by the large creature which had been lurking on the far edges of the room, caught her attention immediately. It seemed to glide across the floor effortlessly, using its numerous powerful tentacles, to approach them. Mara didn't have to use the Force to sense that the creature was furious at being disturbed and threatened.

Jaina pivoted quickly, rising to her feet more easily than Mara would have thought she could after the beating that Callista had inflicted. Jaina's lightsaber cast a pale purple shadow over all three of them as she held it in front of her defensively. A dozen meters away from Jaina, the creature slammed to a stop in mid motion, thrown back as if it had run into a solid durasteel wall. Mara's gaze flickered to Jaina quickly, expecting to see the evidence of such an incredible expenditure of the Force written on Jaina's face. All she found was a look of surprise as Jaina looked back at her.

"Mara did you-"

"It wasn't me."

"It was me." The voice was low, barely carrying to Jaina and Mara. The words were spoken with the harsh accents of the Yuuzhan Vong, but the voice was wrong, lighter and somehow smoother.

Jaina peered into the shadowy corner behind them where the voice had come from. She could see movement, but she couldn't see what was actually happening or identify the speaker. Acting with instinct born of almost a lifetime of Jedi training, Jaina moved quickly so that she was standing between the shadow cloaked being and Mara and Jag.

"Really, is that necessary?" The voice seemed almost genuinely hurt that she wouldn't trust it. "After all I am only here to help you."

In the dim light she could barely make out the sharp gesture that the being made. She whipped back around to face the creature as it gave an earsplitting shriek of agony. Invisible forces- forces that Jaina couldn't sense through the Force- seemed to have caught it. It continued to shriek and its tentacles beat the air, the walls, anything it could find, wildly. In a chilling display, Jaina watched the creature be killed in front of her without a blaster bolt, thermal detonator, lightsaber or any other kind of weapon ever touching it. Jaina turned back to face the being in confusion. Uncertainty was etched on her features.

The being walked out into the light and Jaina's still ignited lightsaber almost slipped through her suddenly nerveless fingers.

"I think my pet had outlived her usefulness don't you?" Yuuzhan Vong growths covered his body and tattooed scars stood out on his face, rendering him almost unrecognizable. His head was covered in long wild hair that matched her own in color and texture. Eyes that matched hers in everyway, except for what lay behind them, bored into her own. "It was time for us to meet again, without any annoying distractions. After all our destinies our bound together, aren't they, sister dear?"


	42. The Impossible Battle

"Jacen?" Jaina's voice conveyed wonder and disbelief. "You're alive!" There was so much that she wanted to say to Jacen and so much that she wanted to ask him. They had a lot of catching up on to do. However, now was not the time. She glanced quickly back at Mara and Jag. It was as if the years that they had been separated were gone. "We have to get out of here, now," she said quickly to her brother. "Aunt Mara's pretty badly injured. She needs to get to a bacta tank as soon as possible and Jag- I think Callista hit him hard with Force lightening."

She moved quickly towards Jag. He was the heavier of the two, but it would easier for Jacen to carry Mara without making her wound any worse. She bent quickly between the two. A swift examination revealed that Mara had already slipped into a healing trance, while Jag was still unconscious.

Her comm. link crackled and she reached to answer it automatically. "Goddess," she answered hastily.

"Great One." Even over the comm. channel, the relief at hearing from Jaina was still evident in Teara's voice. "We've evacuated the prisoners from the compound. We only encountered light resistance on the way out and we're waiting at the rendezvous point. Master Durron is sending ships to pick us up even as we speak. We have less than half an hour to get off planet, before the rest of the fleet has to pull back."

"Good," Jaina's voice was calm, although she could feel the worry churning in her stomach. Jag and Mara were not in good condition. "I need you to alert the medical teams, both in orbit and on the ships coming down, I have two severely injured with me."

"Acknowledged," Teara responded promptly, "See you in orbit, Goddess."

The comm. link clicked off. "So much has changed since we were children. I'm so different now, Jaina. I'm so much more."

Jaina was barely listening. "I've changed, too. WE have to go now, Jacen. We can't miss the rendezvous point. Jag and Mar need help, now. I can't do this without your help," she added a moment later.

Jacen didn't move. "That's the wonderful thing about being a twin, isn't it? You never have to be alone. You never have to fear or doubt. Whenever you fall, there's always another hand there to catch you. Your other half is always there to share your joys, and your burdens, as well, I suppose." He stared at her with incredible intensity, his gaze seeming to see into her. "Or at least that was what we used to think, wasn't it Jaina? Together we were unbeatable and unstoppable. The past few years, I've seen things- I've learned so many hidden things, Jaina."

Jaina hardly looked at him, her frustration rising. "That's good, Jacen," her face showed a genuine smile as she spared a quick glance at him, "We have so much to discuss when we get back to the fleet in orbit."

"No," Jacen's word stopped her in her tracks.

"What? Jacen?" Confusion was written all over her face.

"Our time has come, Jaina. This can't wait any longer." The look that he directed at her showed both eagerness that she would understand and pity for her ignorance. "We always believed that together we were at our best. We were so wrong, Jaina. We tried for so long to deny it, but we can't escape our destiny. Only one of us, only the strongest can survive. Even Brakiss knew that it was true. The Yuuzhan Vong have shown me this. It is the only true way, Jaina."

"Jacen what are you talking about?" Her voice was low and serious and her mind refused to believe what she was seeing and hearing him say. The things that Jacen was saying had to be a result of his years of captivity and Yuuzhan Vong propaganda. "Jacen," she said intensely. "We can't do this. You're my twin brother, my only brother now." Tear fell down onto her face as Jacen stared at her implacably.

"That changes nothing, Jaina." He looked at her, as if solidifying her image in his mind. "Now step up and face your destiny with dignity."

"Jacen," her voice was pleading, but her stance never changed as he assumed a fighting stance.

He didn't respond. Instead he knelt down on one knee on the floor. With surprising fierceness from her formerly gentle brother, Jacen began chanting. Jaina didn't recognize the words, but she did recognize a ritualized call to the Gods when she heard one. Jacen methodically pulled a couffee from under his living cloak and reopened a set of particularly nasty scars on his forehead and bare upper torso. Jaina felt mesmerized by the honorific rite.

Jacen had barely started the ritual, however, before she used the Force to yank the couffee from his grasp. "No, Jacen."

He looked up at her and for the first time, Jaina saw a flash of anger on his face. He looked back down at the ruins of the ritual and then back up at Jaina. "So impatient to face your destiny, Jaina?" He asked as he held her gaze. "Impatience was always your flaw."

In one impressive motion, Jacen pushed himself to his feet and launched himself at Jaina, in a Force assisted lunge. He literally flew through the air to meet her. In the next moment, a green lightsaber clashed into a purple one. It seemed as if the lightsabers had simply appeared in the hands of their owner's rather than be drawn.

Instead of trying to counteract the momentum of Jacen's first strike, she allowed it to shove her into a fall. As her back hit the ground, she pushed him up and off of her. He rolled smoothly off her and regained his feet almost instantly. Jaina's move was slightly different from his, but she managed to regain her feet at the same moment as he did. Crouched into low dueling stances the twins circled one another. "I don't want to fight you, Jacen," Jaina called to her brother.

"Then I will kill you." He spoke easily, without malice, as if it were simply a fact. He feinted a slash high at her shoulder. She didn't fall of the ploy and in the next moment their blades met in a fierce display of swordsmanship. Twin fought twin using every trick that they had learned over the years. Their fight became a whirling deadly blur of green and purple. They matched each other blow for blow without faltering until their blades crashed together in a furious stalemate.

Jacen's face was twisted into an expression of fierce, vicious determination. Jaina met him with a look of defiance. The only hint of her conflicting emotions was the tears sliding down her face, trailing through the dust that had caked onto her face. "Jacen?" Her voice was a plea. She would never stop trying to stop this fight. She would not kill her brother and she would not let him kill her. Jaina had lost too much through the years.

Her personal goal on this mission had been to free Jacen and she wouldn't fail. Not even if the thing that she had to free Jacen from was the Yuuzhan Vong propaganda that had been put into his own mind. She had fought too hard and had too much will to survive for her to let this go now.

Jacen seemed to sense her determination and redoubled his attack, pushing harder on their locked blades. Her injured shoulder screamed with pain as their stalemated lightsabers pushed dangerously closer to her. Slowly and implacably the lightsabers inched closer to her. Abruptly, Jaina smiled at Jacen, her face now less than six inches away from his. Without warning she stopped fighting him and let herself collapse to the ground.

The moment she hit the ground, a sweeping kick dropped Jacen to the ground beside her. In an instant she was rolling back to her feet, waiting for Jacen to rise. A glimpse of motion out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she risked a glance in that direction. Next to Mara, Jag was starting to stir. Jaina didn't have time to do more than shoot him another worried look before she turned back to face Jacen.

As two very evenly matched opponents, the outcome of the fight would probably be do to luck more than overwhelming talent. Jaina, however, didn't feel like relying on luck. This time, she initiated the attack. With the inimitable style that she had learned from Mara, she fought and tested, provoking him to take chances and leave openings. Both were ready and willing to take any opportunity that they could to end the fight, each with a different end in mind.

Luck, however, seemed to be with Jacen. Each thrust of his lightsaber, and every kick or punch that he threw at her was aimed at to put more stress on her injured shoulder. She was fighting with a handicap that he did not have, and as hard as she fought she was still loosing ground. At that point, she shouldn't have been standing much less dueling.

Her one regret was Jag. He was probably the only reason that she had lasted so long. She hadn't been fighting against Jacen, she had been fighting for her life, a life that could now include Jag. It was all that she had longed for, but never allowed herself to contemplate for so long.

[i]It was an unfair choice,[/i] she decided, as she completed a quick series of parries and thrusts with Jacen, [i]but it was her choice.[/i] She could die at the hand of her brother and forever deny she and Jag that chance of a life together. She had seen first hand what that could do to a person, however. Tahiri was living proof of that. Jaina had no doubt that Jag could survive her death, but her heart ached at the thought of condemning him to a life of grief. She could only see one other option at the moment, however. Jaina knew her capabilities and she knew that the only way that she could stop Jacen at this point, would be to kill him. Jaina didn't think that she could mentally survive the death- the murder- of her twin brother at her hands.

Jacen took the choice out of her hands in the next moment. She had seen the obvious opening that he had left her with his recent series of moves, but she could also tell that he was setting a trap for her. The sensation of her head pounding against her skull penetrated her sense and she wondered just how hard Callista had thrown her into that wall. Jaina's next slash swept up a Jacen's left side rather than his right, where he had given her the opening. She felt his surge of triumph a moment later as he took a step closer to her and slammed his blade into hers. As she had been doing she didn't try to stop his momentum, but let him drive her back with the blow. She realized her mistake a moment to late as her back ran into a stone wall. There was no where for her to go.

In the next instant her lightsaber was flying out of her grasp. Without room to move her hand she couldn't prevent him from knocking it out of her hand. It landed across the room, finally rolling to a stop on the floor.

Jacen drew his lightsaber back and raised it for a final blow as Jaina slumped against the rocks. Her eyes found Jag's automatically. He stared at her, frozen by the seen before him. The look in his eyes was full of pain and of love. He knew as did she what her next move would be. Even as her tears continued to fall, a smile lit her face. "I love you."

She could see the moment that he heard the words. A smile, a real, genuine and bittersweet smile lit his face. The tears on his face now matched hers. He nodded at her silently and she looked away. She couldn't bear to see the desperation in his eyes as he watched her.

Time seemed to freeze as the brilliant green light of Jacen's lightsaber fell towards her. Images flashed through her mind. She and Jacen as little children, harassing Threepio together, playing with Anakin inside the stifled walls of the palace. Their first steps together and the many times that they had comforted one another when their parents were gone. Countless little moments and moments that were so large they had changed the entire course of their lives both as twins and as individuals. The grasp of Jacen's hand on hers as they faced Herthir and hundred other kidnapping attempts in her childhood. Training and fighting side by side as teenagers, against Dark lords, imperial forces, and conniving politicians. Their shared grief over Chewbacca and the slow death of their family as a group, loosing Anakin to the Yuuzhan Vong. And in an instant that was all conveyed through her twin bond to Jacen.

He staggered in front of her, clutching his head painfully. "Jacen," her voice was calm, and gentle. She slipped deeper into the Force, reaching out further to him, conveying everything, every emotion that he had forgotten and buried under years of Yuuzhan Vong conditioning. He fell to his knees, and his lightsaber slipped out of his hands, disengaging as it hit the floor. He looked up at her slowly, unseeing. "Jaina?" He sounded bewildered, lost.

Jaina slumped to the ground beside him. "I'm right here, brother dear." The last thing she saw as she faded into unconsciousness was Jag moving towards them.


	43. Brother vs Lover

Jag's weakened limbs stumbled and he dropped down next to Jaina without his usual precision and economy of motion. His arms trembled with a mixture of muscle fatigue, adrenaline and the effects of Callista's Force lightening as he scooped Jaina into his arms. He held her unconscious form to him tightly, desperately.

It had been mere seconds ago when he thought that he would loose Jaina forever. He couldn't stand the thought of loosing her again. That thought sent another determined charge of energy through his battered body. Somehow he had to get Jaina and Mara to medical help and off of the planet soon. That meant rejoining the strike team that Jaina had led in. The clawcraft that he had used to fly down to the surface couldn't carry all of them.

Jag pulled Jaina closer to him, not just to reassure himself that she was still alive, but so that he could reach the comm. link hooked on her belt. He pulled it off easily enough, but then uttered several furious curses as it took several tries for his fingers to activate the comm. link.

"Lieutenant Teara here. Report." The woman's voice was harried but commanding.

"This is Colonel Jag Fel," he responded quickly, "I'm in the chamber where the prisoners were being held with Colonel Solo and Jedi Jade Skywalker, who are both severly injured, as well as Jacen Solo."

"Sithspawn!" The young woman's voice was full of worry and frustration. "There's no way that we can get to you, Spike Lead. We're barely managing to keep the Vong off of us here. We don't have anyone to send back for you, Sir." She hesitated for a bare second. "To be honest, Sir, I don't know how much longer we can hold our position."

Jag grimaced, "Acknowledged." He didn't hesitate, although he desperately wished there was another option as he made the decision that Jaina would have wanted. "Hold the position for as long as you can, Lieutenant," he ordered her quickly, "However if we can't join you before you are forced to fall back, you will leave without us. That is an order," he added sharply. "Fel out." He snapped before the Lieutenant had a chance to argue.

He glanced back down at Jaina's still unconscious form and gently trailed a finger down her cheek. This would not end here. It couldn't. He wouldn't allow it. Ignoring Jacen's crumpled and unmoving body, Jag half-carried and half-dragged Jaina towards Mara. Jaina's injuries, while serious, were no where as life threatening as Mara's. For one wild moment Jag felt his well trained and almost habitual sense of calm, grim certainty slip away. Panic gripped him.

"Fel," the sound was barely a whisper, but it caught his attention almost instantly. Mara was looking up at him through eyes that were barely conscious slivers of emerald. "Give me your hand." Her voice was so faint that he could barely hear it, but it was firm with icy determination.

Automatically Jag held his hand out to the Jedi Master. Slowly her hand rose from her side and reached up to clasp his. He could feel the conscious effort with which her fingers tightened around his hand. With fierce concentration and his help, Mara managed first to attain a sitting position and then shakily, to stand.

She looked down at the lightsaber hanging on her belt and then tilted her head up to meet his eyes. Her lips were twisted into a tight, grim smile. "The one great failing of the Jedi: A weapon that can cut through anything." She grunted and her hand momentarily clenched around his as a surge of pain ripped through her body. She blinked the pain away and focused on him again. "What I wouldn't give right now, for the Jedi weapon to have been a staff."

Jag wasn't sure how to respond to the woman's dark humor. Fortunatly he didn't have to. Mara was already back to the matter at hand. "Can you carry Jaina," she asked, jerking her head slightly towards her former apprentice.

He nodded.

"Good." She eyed him shrewdly. "We'll meet you at the exit."

Jag wanted to protest that Jacen was too much of a risk- just one more dangerous factor weighing their already handicapped group down- but he remained silent. He gave Mara a curt nod and then pulled Jaina up into his arms. He carried her towards the entrance. Jaina had very nearly died because of her twin. She had risked [u]everything[/u] to save Jacen. He didn't have to like Jacen or even trust him, but he would try to stop Mara from bringing Jacen either. Not when it was so clearly important to Jaina.

As Jag paused in front of the gaping entrance, he glanced back at Jacen and Mara. The man didn't seem to be fully in tune with his surroundings, but he followed Mara easily. Jag merely hoped that his dazed look was just what it appeared to be. While it wasn't the most helpful state for Jacen to be in, it was preferable to cold, murderous intent.

Jag turned back sharply to face the entrance, as he heard a slight whisper of noise, but he was far too late. The thud bug had been aimed with excellent accuracy. Jag barely had a chance to see it before it slammed into his head with concussive force. He dropped to the ground instantly with Jaina still unconscious in his arms.

[hr]

Kyp Durron paced the bridge of his Star Destroyer as he watched the battle continue to rage. The giant holographic images that represented the large space brawl were complemented by his own sense of how the Force flowed within that area of space.

At the moment, however, Kyp's mind wasn't focused on the gigantic push and pull chaos of the destructive melee unfolding around him. He was concerned about Jaina. He had sensed her earlier in the conflict, already in danger. That was to be expected, of course, but it had simply felt right to [i]advise[/i] Jag that Jaina could probably use some help. The emotions that Kyp had sensed from Jaina through the Force were not encouraging, however, and the way her presence had been slipping in and out of the Force, brought a cold sweat to Kyp's face. The scattered and mostly incomprehensible reports that Kyp had been receiving about the condition on the planet's surface had only confirmed his bad feeling.

He had waited, remaining patien as a Jedi Master should, while he coordinated the large sprawling battle. He had sent Fel to Jaina. Now it was time- time for him to act himself. He wouldn't allow Jaina to die here. The Force was telling him that Jaina was just as important to the success of the mission as the prisoners that were being retrieved. If she failed or if she fell, the mission would go with her.

Kyp was already dashing towards the turbolift as he yelled at the nearest crewman. "Give orders to prep my x-wing. Now!" He grimaced and spared one more glance at the holographic representation of the battle. Jaina had left him in charge of this and he had not intention of failing her, but things had changed. His part in this had changed. His part now was to save the mission by save Jaina and that was something that he had quite a bit of experience with. "And tell General Slarne to meet me down at the flight deck!"

[hr]

Mara ducked back, pressing herself up against the wall, as far back from the mouth of the opening as she could get. She steadied herself against the wall with one hand and turned even more of her concentration on the Force. It was taking a great deal of concentration and energy both to keep herself alive and to stand and move. Pulling Jaina and Jag out of the entrance and away from the Vong warriors outside, would usually be a relatively easy thing. Now it required deep concentration. The muscles in her body tensed painfully with her effort. Through her half closed eyes, Mara could see Jaina and Jag begin to tremble slightly. With a sudden fierce determination, she lifted them quickly into the air and drew them towards her.

They landed hard on the floor at her feet, sprawled in a tangled mass of limbs. Mara sagged against the rough wall.

As soon as she had regained enough of her control of the Force to stand again, Mara used the Force to perform a quick check on Jaina's injuries. She could sense the damage done to her niece's body with little effort. Jaina had suffered broken bones, deep lacerations and a poision flowed weakly through her blood stream. She was still unconscious, but she seemed to have somehow slipped herself into a healing trance.

There was nothing Mara could do for her at the moment, so she simply left Jaina in that state. Jag was another matter entirely, however. He was injured, as well, but it had been the blow to the head from the thud bug that had knocked him unconscious and that Mara could change. She layed a hand briefly on his head and used the Force to sense and correct the damage that had been done by the thud bug.

The sound of dozens of razor sharp wings whiring through the air, caught Mara's attention quickly as a hail of thud bugs sailed through the open entrance way. Before Mara could move to intercept them, motion caught her attention. With speed that seemed casual, Jacen stepped up in front of the entrance. He simply stared at the swarm of dangerous bugs diving towards him. They didn't slow.

In one great chitinous cloud they surrounded Jacen, pressing in on him. Instead of slicing him with their wings and devouring him, as Mara had seen them do on more occaisions than she would have liked, they were molding themselves to the contours of his body. They latched onto the living cloak that clothed him and formed a layer of armor to protect him. Their razor sharp wings angled out from Jacen's body acting as scales. They would give anyone who got close enough, a nasty deterent from touching Jacen.

"Jacen." Mara's voice was questioning, not harsh and demanding. Not yet. She was, however, asking what he was doing. Her instincts where Jacen was concerned were unclear. She couldn't leave behind the young man who she had saved when he was a mere infant- the nephew she had later grown to love. But she was also wary of Jacen, she didn't trust him entirely. She hadn't seen the fight between he and Jaina, but she was aware of it and of its outcome. Mara knew that he had almost killed his twin sister and she knew that he had been a captive of the Yuuzhan Vong for years, subject to all of their tortures. It would have been enough to destroy most normal people or even Jedi, both physically and mentally. There was no way to tell what it had done to Jacen.

Jacen turned his head to look at Mara, ignoring the potention threats outside. "Yes, Aunt Mara?"

"Be careful," were the words that Mara finally spoke and they were weighted with double meaning. The power that Jacen had just displayed was awesome and Mara was unaware of its limits. Until she knew those limits and how Jacen intended to use his new powers, she would remain wary.

Jacen nodded slowly, unaware of her mental turmoil, "I will, Mara." His voice seemed disjointed, but there was no time to spare at that moment. A trio of Yuuzhan Vong warriors rushed Jacen.

As his hands came up from his sides, Mara never even saw Jacen draw the lightsabers- his and Jaina's. The blades simply ignited in his hands, purple and blue casting discordant shadows. In the next instant, Jacen was surrounded by a chaotic whirl of motion. Lightsabers flashed, hissing against amphistaffs and coufees as warriors and thud bugs alike whirled violently around him.

Mara spared a glance down at Jag. The young Colonel was already coming quickly back to consciousness. Without hesitation, Mara quickly murmured, "Here," and shoved her holdout blaser against his chest, wrapping one of his arms around the weapon.

She pushed off of the ground, drawing the Force around her to move. Even as she flicked on her own lightsaber, she hung back, watching Jacen, seeing what he was capable of.

With one downward circular sweep of her lightsaber, he drew his blade diagonally through the torso of one Vong warrior and used his other blade to block the already falling blow from the amphistaff of another warrior. With his twin lightsabers, Jacen made quick and brutal work of the warriors. Blood stained his body in splashes, but he didn't seem to have broken a sweat or even begun to breathe heavily as a result of the fight. His eyes glittered with the first sign of animation that Mara had seen in them.

He flicked off both lightsabers at the same time, extinguishing some of the large room's light with the action. "More of them will come," he said quickly, "We need to go. Do we have a way off planet?"

"Yes. It souldn't take us long to get there," Mara added, "Unless we run into too much more trouble."

Jacen nodded, but Mara noticed, he didn't seem to be too concerned. His expression softened for a moment, loosing the distant opaqueness that had characterized it, as he walked back towards Jaina, Jag and Mara. "I'll get Jaina," he added soflty.

He was less than a meter away from Jaina when a blaster bold screamed through the air and bit into the dirt at his feet. Jacen instinctively stopped, sweeping his lightsaber up, and into a defensive position.

The hand that held the blaster didn't waver. "You're not touching her," Jag's voice was colder than winter on Hoth. "One more step and I will vape you where you stand."


	44. Will We Get Off This Planet? Part I

Jag could feel the muscles in his hand weakening from exhaustion and from the damage that Callista had inflicted on his nervous system. He clenched the blaster more tightly in his grip, refusing to give in to the weakness of his body.

Jacen seemed to be changed, different from the person that had tried to kill his twin sister, but Jag still didn't trust him- not with Jaina and especially not with the power that Jacen now wielded so casually.

Jacen stared at him and his wold defiance and laughed. With an almost negligent slap, Jacen knocked the blaster out of his hand. Jag's reflexes were a fraction of a second slower than normal, but he still responded quickly. Even as Jacen was knocking the blaster out of his hand, Jag responded by landing a solid punch to Jacen's face.

Jacen responded with two brutal blows to Jag's midsection as if Jag's punch hadn't even hurt him. In an instant it had turned into a fast moving brawl, a flurry of exchanged blows.

"Stop." The word seemed to make the air around them vibrate with power. Both men obeyed the command instantly and against all of their instincts. The air pressed down at them, forcing them back away from one another. Everything trembled with tension as the two men face each other, still waiting for the fight to resume.

Mara stepped boldly between the two of them, her hands spread out from sides, using the Force to keep Jacen and Jag apart. "Jacen." The young man didn't even blink as he continued to stare fiercely at Jag.

Mara's eyes snapped with anger, despite her weakened condition. "We don't have time for this." Her words slashed through the air like the sharpest of vibroblades. "Jaina needs medical attention almost as much as I do and we have to get off of this planet before she can receive the care that she needs. If you're both fighting because you love her, then shouldn't one of you step aside before you lose her for good?"

"He tried to kill her, Mara. I won't let that happen."

"Jag," the word was soft, a mere whisper, but it caught the intensely focused Colonel's attention immediately.

It made him look away from Jacen without a second of hesitation. He turned his back on his opponent and dropped down beside Jaina, pressing a kiss on the hand that he quickly clutched in his. "Darling," he whispered softly, the old term of endearment coming quickly back to his lips.

Her lips twisted into a small smile for him alone and then she tried to rise into a sitting position. Jag gently but powerfully pushed her back, not allowing her to get up. Frustration and irritation flashed in her eyes, but she didn't try to do anything else for the moment.

"You have several broken ribs, Jaina. You don't need a punctured lung."

"Then let Jacen carry me."

Jag's reply was instant. "No. I don't trust him, Jaina. Not with you."

"Do you trust me?" Her voice was low and soft, but not was any false pretenses.

"Yes," again the reply was instantaneous.

"Then trust me when I say that Jacen will not harm me. Or you." Even through the pain that she was feeling and the distracting sensations that the Force was flooding her with, Jaina felt his disbelief. "He didn't use his lightsaber," she said quickly, as if that explained it all.

Her eyes left Jag's, but her thumb continued to caress his hand where their fingers were laced together. She looked up at Mara. "Can you finish this? Are you-"

Mara cut her off before Jaina's voice could falter. "Of course I can, Jaina. I will get us off of this planet." Her words carried an unspoken promise.

Jaina rose from where she was laying, carefully pushing herself up on her elbows, superceding Jag's protests. "Promise me that you won't die," her voice was challenging, demanding the response that she sought. "Swear to me on Ben's life that you won't sacrifice yourself for this mission-"

"Like Anakin sacrificed himself." It was Jacen who completed the thought in a rare display of their unique bond.

Mara's eyes, like Jag's, flickered back in forth between them. "I promise that I will follow the will of the Force."

Jaina met her aunt's gaze intensely, searching for something in Mara's eyes until she was satisfied with what she saw. She nodded at Mara and relaxed back into Jag's supporting embrace. She glanced at Jacen, then. "Can you get us out of here?"

"Yes." Her brother's reply was blunt. At least that much had changed about Jacen.

Her grip on Jag's hand tightened fractionally as Jag started to protest. Leaning carefully on Jag, shifting her weight nd her body precisely, Jaina rose to a standing position beside him. Like Mara she drew the Force around her closely to support her and guide her. With deliberate purpose she opened her bond with Jacen. She savored their mental closeness for a moment. It wasn't as if something she had lost had been returned to her, it was as if a gaping wound had been healed and returned to its perfect whole state.

Can you help Mara, the thought flowed effortlessly from one mind to the other.

I can. Even through their mental connection, Jacen was keeping their conversation short and blunt. As reassuring and open as their Force bond was, he was also blocking her out in some ways. It was startling and unsettling and it forced Jaina to wonder just how much Jacen had changed.

Her reply, however, reflected none of her worries about her twin. She was keeping things from him as well. Thank you, Jasa.

His response wasn't words, but a wave of sensation. It wrapped around her in a familiar and comforting mental embrace. The wordless message brought a smile to her face and gave her unexpected streght. It washed her doubts away and soothed her fears. She spoke aloud this time, for Jag and Mara's benefit. "Lead the way, brother dear."


	45. Will We Ever Get Off This Planet? Part II

Alarms screamed as Kyp skidded out of the turbolift and scrambled towards his x-wing. The crew chief assigned to his x-wing and the rest of the maintenance team scrambled hurridly away, stripping tubes and hoses away from his x-wing as he dashed up the ladder. Even as he fell sharply into his piloting couch, he heard the comm. link in his cockpit screaming for his attention. He hit the switch to turn it on even as he began the x- wing's start up sequence.

The frantic voice of a young officer filtered through his speakers, giving the voice a tinny sound. "Master Durron, there's another fleet coming out of apace behind us. The Vong are getting reinforcements, sir!"

Kyp was in equal parts irritated and concerned about the officer's frantic report, but it did manage to take his immediate focus away from what was happening to Jaina. She had entrusted him with this portion of their mission and he wouldn't let her down here, either. "Patch the information through to my x-wing," he said quickly. He needed to make his own assessment of the situation before he acted. If the officer was simply exaggerating...Kyp let the thought hang uncompleted. There was no need to decide the man's ultimate fate before he had discovered the truth of the situation.

In the next instant, the consoles in his cockpit were flooded with information and Kyp stopped his flight preparations instantly. As the numbers of the Vong fleet began to scroll in front of him, Kyp forgave the officer's moment of panic. The man had been right. The fleet that they were facing was large, one of the largest that Kyp had sen assembled in quite some time.

In the past few years, battles with the Vong had been smaller in scale, if not necessarily less bloody, rather than the massive battles between large fleets that characterized the start of the war with the Vong. Even as Kyp started assessing the necessary change in tactics for the situation, and rearranging his forces accordingly, the incessant wrongness of the situation hit him.

Jaina had carefully timed this mission and much thought had gone into its planning. Not even Jag had been able to fault her throughness or her sources of information. Jaina had actually refused to reveal many of her sources, and that had concerned Kyp then, but her sources had been accurate. At least they had been accurate thus far. Her sources had also told them that there were no Yuuzhan Vong fleets near enough to their target planet to provide reinforcements.

The Vong were stretched thin these days, and according to Jaina's sources, most spare vessels were massing for a big push on the far side of the galaxy. Either Jaina's sources had been flat wrong or this was something different, secret enough that even Jaina's sources hadn't been able to provide any information.

Kyp shook his head slightly, for the moment the source of this new Vong fleet wasn't as important as how to counter it. Kyp quickly passed off orders to the bridge of the Star Destroyer and waited for the results, watching the consoles of his x-wing carefully.

Two light cruisers, fresh from the ship yards at Kaut, if Kyp remembered correctly, and their attending support ships, pulled away from the main battle and charged at the incoming Yuuzhan Vong vessels. Kyp watched intently as the scene unfolded. As the two cruisers approached the fleet, ships began to trade distant fire. At the last moment possible for course corrections, the two cruisers drew apart, the distances between them expanding exponentially as they arced away from one another. Instead of diving into the heart of the Vong fleet, their altered courses took them whipping around opposites edges of the Vong fleet.

The Vong vessels leading the fleet arced away from the fleet's unerring course and followed the cruisers, splitting the interior of the fleet open like some gruesome carnivorous flower unferling its petals.

Kyp would have been pleased that his ploy had worked as it was intended, but what he saw destroyed any pleasure that he might have had in that small victory. The vessel leading the fleet was one of the most gruesome that Kyp had ever seen.

Rough, jutting coal growths sprouted all over the ship and gouts of molten plasma hurled out from them as lage tentacles speared out of the beast/vessel's gaping maw.

Its maw opened and spat something out. His onboard computer was telling Kyp that the unidentified globule was moving at the same velocity as an x- wing's proton torpedo. Kyp watched in silent horror as the globule inveloped an x-wing. The shields didn't even fizzle. The x-wing simply...dissolved in an instant. It was an effective lesson in horror that even Kyp wouldn't soon scoff at.

The tentacles lashed through space in front of the vessel, creating significant havoc and damage as the vessel advanced. Kyp grimaced, even he would admit that the situation was not good. With a quick glance down at his own tactical boards, he hurriedly searched through the lists of squadrons still active, until he found what he was searching for.

Twin Suns and Spike Squadron had been in the most brutal fighting for most of the battle, but a surprising number of their squadron members were still alive. It was a testament to the skills of the pilots flying in those squadrons. Those above average skills were what Kyp wanted to exploit as he ordered what remained of those squadrons towards the Vong reinforcements.

They were hardly enough to scratch the surface of one of the larger Vong vessels, but it would buy Kyp a few more moments to gather more forces to counter the massive fleet. Small forces like the remains of the two squadrons, however, had always carried the threat of large victories over superior forces in the history of the Alliance and its succeeding governments, but this was a completely different enemy.

Kyp simply hoped that he wasn't sending them on a suicide mission. He watched as the squadrons began their approach and then shot a sharp order off to the bridge. "Find out where this fleet came from and who the Vong have in charge of this. I want to know who I'm dealing with."

Static filled the channel for a long instant, long enough to make Kyp wonder why it was taking so long for the officer on the bridge to respond to him and then the guttural voice of a Yuuzhan Vong filled Kyp's cockpit with a ferocious overwhelming roar. It was like nothing that Kyp had ever heard. The voice was commanding and overpowering in a way that made a person think it was impossible to disobey whatever this voice commanded. All thoughts beside the gigantic booming voice were knocked out of Kyp's mind.

The voice was enough to startle, even Kyp, into jumping at the noise. His instinctive reaction to the voice surprised him almost as much as the voice had and he grimaced as he shook off the effects of the rough, growling voice, as it washed over him.

"Translation?" He demanded quickly, this time directing his query at his astromech unit. He read the words quickly as they scrolled across his screen.

"WHO DARES? WHO DARES INVADE THE PERSONAL DOMAIN OF SHIMMRA, OVERLORD OF THE YUUZHAN VONG, HE WHO WIELDS THE KNOWLEDGE AND POWER OF THE GODS, THE FAVORED OF YUN YUUZHAN?"

Kyp swore loudly.

=======================================================================

Jaina winced as they stopped abruptly. Jag had been right when he said that she had broken ribs. Even with the Force, breathing seemed painful at times. A ripple of surprise tinged with fear from her twin immediately caught Jaina's attention. "What's the matter, Jacen," she asked in a low, quiet voice.

The Force and her normal five senses showed her no danger at the moment. "He is here," Jacen's voice was distant again- cold and dangerous. The Yuuzhan Vong accent was slipping back into his speech. "He is here for me," he turned back to look at Jaina. "He won't let us escape. He believes that the twin sacrifice is what will save the Yuuzhan Vong and insure their victory in the war."

Ignoring her injuries, Jaina took several quick steps closer to her brother. "Who is he, Jasa?" she asked, using the childhood nickname purposefully, recalling a time when they had been the closest as twins.

"He is the Supreme Overlord, Shimmra. This planet is his pet project, reserved for those he deemed worthy of his attention." His eyes gazed at her unseeing. "It is impossible to resist his will, Jaina. He cannot be challenged."

"Anyone can be challenged, Jasa." Her voice was firm. "Even the strongest can be brought down." She smirked roughly, "It's become my life's work. Besides," she added quickly, "Shimmra has never faced us together."

Jacen didn't reply, but she could sense his hesitation to believe her.

"Can you sense where he is?" she asked, when it was clear that he wasn't going to respond.

A look of concentration passed over Jacen's face and Jaina waited expectantly next to him. She gave Jag a small half-smile as he came up beside her and carefully wrapped an arm around her waist. It was probably meant as a protective gesture- aimed, of course, at Jacen- but Jaina didn't care. She liked the opportunity to relax, even a little, and be close to Jag again after so long. If she had been safe, on a ship, and uninjured, it would have been pure bliss. As it was, it was close. The moment that she looked back at Jacen, however, her brief reprieve was broken.

"He is in orbit, Jaina, and he won't let them go. He will destroy the entire fleet simply to get to us."

Jaina smiled grimly, "Let Kyp worry about Shimmra's fleet, I think he can come up with a way to hold his own."

Jacen looked at his twin warily, "Do not make the mistake of underestimating Shimmra. He has never failed to bend someone to his will and he sees an opportunity for the ultimate triumph of the Yuuzhan Vong in us." His face clouded. "Shimmra has spent years trying to destroy me, my mind," he looked at her with the intense insight that seemed to cut through her with a look that had always been uniquely Jacen. "And he did succeed, Jaina. But," he added slowly, "Shimmra wants more. He wants to be able to control us both. It would be a double victory for him. Your capture and your eventual, forced change of loyalties would be a devastating blow to the Galactic Alliance. And most of the Vong see us as the twin gods- Yun Harla and Yun Yammka. If it was known that Shimra controlled us, it would be seen as a sign of his ultimate power."

A cough from behind them caught their attention, quickly, before Jaina could reply to Jacen. Mara studied them with a reproving eye. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she said calmly. "For the moment, the Supreme Overlord seems to be tied up in orbit with Kyp's fleet. We need to concentrate on getting off planet, right now. Then we can deal with Shimmra." She looked appraisingly at Jacen. "Are you ready for a little work? While you three have been talking, I've been looking. This alcove opens into a level that houses the Subaltern's personal vessel. It shouldn't be too diffucult for us to commandeer his vessel." She glanced back and forth between Jaina and Jacen. "When this mission is over, then we can decide what needs to be done about Shimmra."


	46. Finally! Off The Planet!

"Sithspawn!" The word flew out of Jaina's mouth with enough vehemence to make Jag and Mara turn sharply around to look at her. Jaina put the coral ship into a roll that would lead into another, more complicated series of evasive maneuvers as she tried to evade the barrage of blaster fire and molten plasma that flashed randomly and purposefully through that area of space. "Now I remember why it's a very bad idea to steal enemy ships," she gritted out as she tried to surge through the swirling mass of fighting ships, towards the Star Destroyer that was their ultimate destination.

Of course, the Insider ships saw only that they were another Vong ship. Their goal was to blow Jaina and her shipmates out of the sky before they could reach the Star Destroyer. It only made the mission that much more difficult.

Jaina bit her lip as fragments of an exploded x-wing bit into the hull of the coral ship and she redoubled her concentration on the fight, struggling to avoid any more damage- both for their own safety and, strangely enough, out of sympathy for the injured vessel.

Jag studied Jaina intensely. Beneath her focused exterior, he could see the toll that her injuries and the multiple fights of the day had taken on her. He hadn't wanted to let her pilot the ship, but she did have the most experience with piloting Vong vessels. It was only with great reluctance and several reassurances from Jaina that he hadn't objected to Jacen helping her pilot the ship. While Jacen's mostly unknown abilities in controlling both the Vong and their biotechnology were what had urged Jaina to get him to help her control their vessel, that was precisely what was concerning Jag. Jacen's abilities- even the small portion of them that Jag had seen thus far- were enough to worry him, considering Jacen's less than stable loyalty. With that in mind, he turned back to Mara, his mind running through as many possibilities as he could think of for notifying the Insider forces that they were not a threat. The sooner that they could get Jaina, Mara and even himself to a med center the happier Jag would be. He would even go so far as to admit that he would be glad to see Kyp. He and the Jedi Master might not have always seen eye-to-eye, but Jag would feel much better about Jacen with Kyp around should anything happen.

"Is there anyway that we can strengthen the signal of our comlinks so that we could reach Kyp or any other friendly forces?" Jag asked, voicing what he thought the most likely of his plans. He was a skilled mechanic and he was quite competent with most technical things, but he hadn't spent much time working on or with comlinks.

Mara considered the question for only a moment before she responded. "Possibly," she admitted as she took a comlink from Jag's outstretched hand, "But the Vong aren't likely to have left a spare hydrospanner lying around here. Jaina," she raised her voice to get the attention of her former apprentice as Jaina jerked the vessel away from another threat, "You had better see if you can reach Kyp through the Force and let him know that we're out here."

"Already on it," was Jaina's terse reply. "His mind is pretty focused on other things right now. Shimrra's fleet is definitely giving him something to think about."

Mara's reply was pragmatic. "The sooner that we get back to that Star Destroyer, the sooner we can leave and then Durron won't have to worry about Shimrra."

The thin line of Jaina's lips curved slightly upwards a moment later in triumph. "Got him!" She stated for the benefit of the others. "He should be alerting the Insider fleet now."

Kyp jerked in his seat as he felt Jaina's mind brush against his, actively seeking his attention through their bond. Without hesitation he tuned out the people clamoring for his attention, the officers asking for more orders or those demanding to know exactly what he was thinking, and focused on Jaina. He could sense her injuries and the fact that she was definitely in trouble came through clearly as well. But Kyp could also sense her mental strength and her usual determination. It shone through to the front of her mind clearly.

He sent a thought in her direction. It was particularly coherent. It was instead a vague open question, seeking what she needed.

Her response came as quickly as his query. His head was filled with a quick flash of images that quickly explained the situation. It only took him an instant to locate the coralskipper that Jaina was in and a moment more to alert the fleet.

Loud banging on the side of his cockpit brought him sharply out of his intense focus on Jaina. After he had gotten word of Shimrra's incoming fleet, he hadn't bothered to waste time returning to the command center of the ship and was simply coordinating everything from his x-wing.

"What," he snapped at the officer who had interrupted him as he popped open his cockpit.

"Sir, Shimrra has destroyed three more of out light cruisers and anything that gets close to that...thing- doesn't come back. He's also sent us another message, Master Durron." The man fumbled awkwardly with the piece of flimsi and the top rail of the ladder that he was hanging on to.

Kyp snatched it quickly out of the man's hand and read:  **"You will be slaughtered without honor- or you will give me the Solo twins. Then you will receive a death worthy of the Gods. Decide."  
**  
Kyp threw the flimsi away roughly. "Send out an order for a full retreat. Any hyperspace capable ships that can jump to hyperspace go now."

"What about a response for Shimrra's offer, sir?" the man questioned.

Kyp actually turned back to look intensely at the man. "Death or death? That's no offer, Lieutenant. That's suicide. We're here to rescue the prisoners- not die." Kyp smirked. It was an old familiar expression for him, and one that he hadn't used in a long time, one that felt so good to wear again. "Tell Commander Slarne that he's in charge again, and," he added quickly as a new thought occurred to him, "I do want to respond to Shimrra. Tell Shimrra that I, Kyp Durron, Jedi Master and Destroyer of Carida, defy him. Tell him that he will never get the Solo twins and that I will see to his death myself. Tell him that I will guarantee a death more shameful than an infidel's."

"Sir." The man backed down the ladder, but there was still confusion and concern in his voice. "Sir, what are you doing?"

Kyp was hardly hearing the man anymore, as he hit the control that would close his x-wing's cockpit. In the moment that he had heard Shimrra's message one thought had become foremost in his mind. It was a thought that had dominated his life from his childhood in the mines of Kessel to an adulthood spent fighting first the Empire and then the Yuuzhan Vong. It was simple. Deny the enemy what it wants most.

What Shimrra wanted most was Jacen and Jaina. He would make sure that Shimrra didn't get what he wanted and then they would leave this system, leaving the Supreme Overlord empty handed. As far as Kyp was concerned it was an excellent plan.


	47. A Worthy Hero

His hand was steady as he slid the throttle forward quickly. Kyp's x-wing responded as it should and shot forward. "J4, find me a Vong vessel that meets this description."

The astromech unit obediently flashed a series of coordinates at him.

"Now find me those headed in our direction and with some damage to their weapons systems."

The list changed again as the astromech sorted through them again using Kyp's revised criterion. Kyp used the few seconds it took the droid to focus on the fight around him. With lasers blasting away he fell in behind two skips chasing a TIE fighter. With practiced ease Kyp overwhelmed the first skip's dovin basals with laser fire and then sunk a torpedo into it.

The second skip showed no signs of breaking off because of the fate of its wingmate. Instead it kept firing on the TIE, which Kyp knew had already taken quite a bit of punishment from the skip and most likely couldn't handle more. Making his decision quickly, Kyp let out a short harsh laugh. It was ironic that he, Kyp Durron, was doing this to save an Imperial fighter.

Kyp pressed his throttle forward again quickly. As his x-wing shot forward passing the skip, he left his hand loose over his control stick, waiting for precisely the right moment. When it came, he reacted swiftly, without any hesitation. His move now put him directly between the skip and the TIE. If the skip was irritated at being denied its original target, it took it out on Kyp, sending a barrage of plasma missiles at him.

The TIE responded more to Kyp's actions than the skip, however. Once it was free of its pursuer the TIE slipped off of its trajectory and cut power to its engines momentarily, allowing it to slip in behind the skip. In a matter of moments, the only thing between Kyp and the TIE was a cloud of superheated and rapidly expanding coral dust.

A crackle of static came over Kyp's chanell as the TIE pulled off from the pursuit. "Thanks for the assist, Dozen Leader," the mechanically distorted voice sounded in his ear a moment later.

"Anytime," Kyp responded, as he glanced down at the list his astromech had finished compiling.

There were three likely choices, but one would suit his purposes the best. The vessel was identical to Jaina's and it was on the opposite side of the battle from his harried and injured goddess. If he could provide what seemed to be a friendly escort to that vessel . . . Kyp laughed. Maybe he had spent too much time with the Trickster goddess herself.

Jacen, watching the larger battle through the cognition hood while Jaina piloted them ever closer to the Star Destroyer, was the first to notice the Insider ships either pulling back or escaping to hyperspace. He quickly pointed it out to Jaina.

She nodded with instant understanding. "Kyp's waiting on us. As soon as we get aboard, he'll take us out of the system," she explained.

Jacen nodded, "But first we have to get there." He gestured at the biodisplay in front of them where Yuuzhan Vong vessels were converging on the Star Destroyer.

Jaina spared a glance at Jacen. "You don't think I can get us there," her voice was calm and focused, but held a definite edge of indignation.

Jacen laughed softly, sounding almost like his old carefree self, the focused on her more seriously. "You know you're one of the best pilots I've ever met, Jaina. If anyone can make it there, you're the one I would trust the most to do it."

A smile curved over her lips. "Thanks." She rolled the coral ship tightly around another Vong vessel, edgeing towards the Star Destroyer as quickly as she dared, weaving her way through the massed Vong ships.

The Force flared brightly in her mind with such suddenness that she almost jerked into a skip passing by them. She steadied their vessel easily and then jerked around to face Jacen and Mara, "Did you feel that?"

"I did," Jacen responded quietly. "It felt like an extreme concentration of the Force, centering around a specific point-like another Jedi," he suggested.

"Kyp's the only other Jedi here with the Insiders," Mara reminded them quickly.

The reminder sent Jaina into a flurry of motion, calling up displays that showed a wider portion of the battle. "What are you doing?" she murmured softly, almost to herself, as she searched the large biodisplay for Kyp's location, overlaying her mental map of the area onto it.

Jag spotted him a moment before she did. "He's there."

She followed his gesture quickly. There in the center of the massive board, Kyp's x-wing dove in and out, vaping skips with impressive efficiency.

"He's pushing that Vong ship towards the Star Destroyer!" Jag's exclamation startled her enough to make her momentarily lose her composure.

"What?"

"Fel's right," Mara said, quickly catching onto what Jag had already seen. "All of his flight patterns are centerd around one point. He's actually hearding that Vong vessel towards the Star Destroyer and making look like he's defending it."

"Shimrra knows what type of vessel we're in," Jacen's voice added quietly, as if he didn't wish to risk attracting the Supreme Overlord's attention even from their distance. "By guarding that vessel, Kyp created a decoy for Shimrra."

"Punch it!"

Even as Mara spoke, Jaina was encouraging the vessel to use ever ounce of its strength to fly faster. Kyp's diversion wouldn't last long and thy only had one shot. Jaina wasn't about to waste the opportunity that Kyp had created for them. As she dove for the Star Destroyer all out now, forgoing stealth and evasion for speed and sending gouts of molten plasma at any Vong ship that passed between her and their safe haven, Jaina sent a burst of warm emotions and thanks towards Kyp. As their connection momentarily strengthened, she was shocked at the strength Kyp suddenly shown with through the Force and the way that it seemed utterly right. When all of this was over, she and her...partner had much they needed to discuss.

Even as the resistance around Kyp began to increase rapidly, he remained calm and focused on the fight before him. It was almost...fun. The Force might not have been able to help him sense a skip's move before it had been made made, but it did quicken his refleces and send strength flowing through him, allowing him to never tire.

It hadn't taken long for Shimrra to catch onto his ploy and for that Kyp was grateful for precisely the reason that he hadn't actually gone to protect Jaina. There was no way once Jaina's ship had been pinpointed for Shimrra that he wouldn't throw everything at the ship to capture them or destroy them and Kyp knew that no matter how powerful of a Jedi Master he was, he was also just a man. He wouldn't have been able to protect Jaina, just as he soon wouldn't be able to protect this decoy vessel from all of its attackers.

His hand tightened on the trigger mechanism, sending a dangerous spray of turbolaser fire out around him. He rolled his x-wing under the decoy and came up firing. He was using every tactic available to him without touching his torpedoes. Kyp simply had a feeling that it would be the end of the fight when he would need them the most. His focus was intense now, as he tried to keep up with all of the threats coming at him. There were so many now, he could only focus on the most immediate.

Kyp almost risked a glance at his other console to check Jaina's position, but a quickly incoming plasma missile caught his attention again before he could. He would have to get out of here soon, but he would try to sustain the deception as long as he could. There were six coral skips now acting as immediate threats. Two of them were targeting him personally while the other four were trying to attack the vessel that he was "protecting."

 _KYP!  
_  
Jaina's mental scream cut through his mental defences and startled him out of his trance-like state. He searched his threat board quikly, looking for whatever Jaina was warning him about. He didn't have a chance to find it, however as several plasma missiles impacted his x-wing, punishing him for his inattention. In the next moment, he found himself down to only three engines and missing his rear shields. He cursed and slipped his x-wing into an inverted roll that was brought up short an instant later by the sight in front of him.

With no warning the vessel he had been "defending" was crushed into coral dust. The fragments that remained shooting outward as if they had been the product of an explosion that Kyp knew hadn't occurred. He only had an instant to realize that this was what Jaina had been trying to warn him about as he saw the carnage spreading out around him. It was the large monstrous vessel that Kyp had seen leading the Vong reinforcements and no doubt carried Shimrra.

In one last act of defiance before the powerful tentacles could crush him, Kyp fired his remaining torpedoes.


	48. A Final Farewell

Jaina Solo jerked to consciousness with a loud yell as a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her securely.

"Jaina, Jaina, it's okay. Relax, Goddess. You're safe. Everything's okay." It took a moment for the deliberately calm voice to register in Jaina's mind.

"Kyp," she breathed his name like a sigh of relief. She immediately stopped struggling against him, but didn't relax in his arms. She couldn't relax, not yet. Not while there was still so much that she didn't know. The question foremost in her mind tumbled quickly off of her lips. "What- How are you alive? I saw the explosion. I saw Shimrra destroy your x-wing."

He placed a hand gently over her lips and smile. "It's okay, Jaina. I'm here now." In her relief at seeing him, she missed the strange emphasis that he had placed on his words. "When you get back," he said slowly, "I don't want you to blame yourself for this, Jaina. This was my choice and despite the consequences, I don't regret it."

"What choice, Kyp? What are you saying?"

He shot her a wry grin, almost like the Kyp of old. "Search your feelings, Jaina. You know the truth. There was no way that anyone could have made it past Shimrra's creation."

Her eyes flashed, full of anger and denied emotion. "No. Not you, Kyp." A tear escaped her eyes and trickled slowly down her cheek. "I need you, Kyp," she said imploringly. "I need your guidance and support."

He shook his head, growing more serious. "You don't." He said firmly. "You'll be fine now, Goddess. You have Fel. He will be there for you as long as you let him. Jacen is back. You can help one another heal the damage done by this war."

"You are my partner- no one can replace you."

"No one will, Goddess," he reassured her solemnly.

"Kyp," her voice trailed off, leaving her words unspoken. There was so much she wanted to say to him.

__

"I know, Goddess," he said quietly, meeting her brown eyes with a hint of apology. He shrugged pragmatically. "I have less people to miss me, Jaina. No parents to mourn the loss of another child or no person to mourn the loss of a significant other," he looked at her pointedly and a hint of mischieviousness shown through in his eyes. "It's better this way, Goddess, and besides," he added, "I have a feeling that the galaxy may still need your help." He took a deep breath and held a hand out to her, sensing her continued misgivings. He needed her to accept this. "I can see you're not convinced. Let me show you something."

She looked at him skeptically, but placed her hand in his without hesitation. The moment their hands connected, Jaina gasped loudly. She was, she realized, seeing this as Kyp did and it was nothing she had ever imagined or experienced. The Force was every where, every thing and every one. It truly encompassed all things, regardless of dark or light. It was more than she could grasp. The usual comforting sense of security that she felt when the Force was flowing through her was nothing compared to this.

In the next instant, it was gone. She blinked futilely several times, until she could focus solidly on Kyp again. "That was..." she faltered for words to describe the experience.

He nodded in understanding. "I have to go soon," he said not hiding the slight edge of regret in his voice. His demeanor suddenly lost the calm, quiet feel that he had displayed since she had been there. Kyp stared at her now with intense focus, looking more like the Jedi Master who had been her partner than the changed man she had been speaking to. "Promise me something, Goddess." He didn't wait for her to speak. "Promise me that you won't push Fel and your family away again because of this." He smirked, "Live for both of us and," he paused looking at her speculatively, "trust yourself, Jaina. You have some great destiny. The Force has a plan for you, Goddess, one that could determine the fate of the Galaxy. I've sensed that about you for years. Embrace it, don't fight it."

He sketched a mocking half-bow at her as he had so many times before and said, "Good bye, Goddess." In the next instant, Kyp Durron, Jedi Master, was one with the Force.

\- -

It was the noises that woke her, the familiar sounds of a hyperdrive in use and the hum of mechanical technology. She recognized her immediate surroundings almost instantly- she had been in enough med bays through the years, after all- but Jaina continued to lie there. She had woken gently, hazily, but it hadn't taken long for the realities of her world to come back to her. She reached quickly into the Force, hoping desperately that it had all been a nightmare, searching for someone. Someone, she realized a moment later, that she would never find. The sudden sense of Kyp's utter absence and the realization of his death, drained her and left her feeling so incredibly alone.

Kyp had been her best friend, her mentor and her sometimes protector, although she would never admit that she truly needed to be protected at times.

"Welcome back, Colonel Solo," a tired voice cut into her thoughts.

She looked blankly at the Imperial medic, a stiff and slightly balding man that looked exhausted beyond endurance. He looked at her without really seeing her. "Your injuries weren't too severe and a day in bacta healed them easily. We were only keeping you until you woke." He handed her a clean uniform, switched off the monitors on the med bunk and turned to walk out without another word.

The man's sudden, impersonal treatment seemed to shock Jaina into some semblance of her usual behavior. "Hey, Doc, wait!"

The man paused but didn't turn to face her. "Yes, Colonel?"

There were so many questions that Jaina wanted answered, but this man was obviously not her best source of information. She quickly decided on the question weighing most heavily on her mind. "Where are the people who were brought in with me, Master Jade Skywalker, Colonel Fel and Jedi Solo?"

The medic finally turned to face her. "In the past day and a half, Colonel, I've had over 150 injured patients in here, brought in by the dozens. Some people are from different ships or military services, not to mention the prisoners from that planet. I don't have the time to keep up with my patients much less your friends."

Jaina glared angrily, but the man had already walked away. As she pulled on a fresh uniform, Jaina swayed slightly to her frustration and sank back against the bunk.

"Jaina?" The voice was achingly familiar. She winced as she turned so quickly to face Jag that her still tender ribs protested.

"Jag!" She was so relieved to see him that she forgot about military dignity, his aversion to public displays of affection and her own dislike of showing any weakness in public and quickly embraced him.

His arms wrapped around her tightly, simply glad that they were both still alive. She pushed back from his embrace slightly, but didn't move from his arms. He reached a hand up to her face, gently stroking her cheek and then leaned down to kiss her tenderly. It was a kiss full not of passion, but of love and grief. She pulled away from the kiss slowly and reluctantly.

Beside her, she could feel Jag struggling, looking for words to voice the unspeakable. "Kyp," he began and then faltered. He didn't want to be the one to give her this news.

"I know," she said with more vehemence than she had intended. They let a silent moment pass between them.

"Will you be okay?" Jag asked her quietly and she was glad for the way that he had phrased the question.

She was most certainly not fine at the moment, but in time... Kyp had made her promise that she would be okay eventually and she didn't intend to break that promise. She nodded slowly against his chest. "I know this will sound strange," she said as they slowly began to walk, "But Kyp made me promise to keep living and not just survive." She turned slightly to look into his pale green eyes. With uncharacteristic emotional honesty, she added, "But it simply seems so hard at times. Help me?"

It was a request that Jag had never heard Jaina make before. It was an admission of vulnerability that surprised him, but didn't make him think any less of her. "Always."

\- -

Despite their injuries and all that they had lost, Jain and Jag found themselves in a deserted conference room quickly catching up on the logistics of their situation. They were the leaders of this Insider's mission.

It was, however, a very informal conference, as Jaina sat next to Jag, her fingers laced comfortably through his, while Jag caught her up.

"Mara is still in a bacta tank. The med droids said that she was due for at least another day of bacta therapy and then her progress would determine what they tried next."

Jaina's worry and concern showed clearly on her face. "She'll be fine, though?"

"They think so eventually. She was badly injured. The med droids said that was she did shouldn't have been possible for a human to survive."

"It wasn't," Jaina admitted, "Not without using the Force the way that she did." She paused and then added, "We'll need to contact Uncle Luke as soon as we reach Bastion. He'll already know, but it will help Mara to know that he's on his way."

Jag nodded, squeezing her hand gently and wishing he could offer her something more in the way of reassurance. "I had also prepared a small statement to be sent to your parents, notifying them that your brother was returning with us, in case you hadn't woken up by the time we left hyperspace, but you can contact them yourself now, if you wish." His words were strangely formal as he spoke.

"Thank you." She smiled at him, managing her largest smile since she had woken, "I think Jacen and I will probably talk to them together."

He didn't comment and instead picked up the first in a stack of datapads that they needed to go over, but she didn't miss the hesitation in his eyes.

"What," she asked forcefully, but gently, "What's wrong?"

He met her gaze unflinchingly, but with a hint of caution. He was well aware of both of their stubborn natures and quick Corellian tempers. It could be a volatile combination even at the best of times. "I don't trust Jacen." He had expected her to react quickly and furiously, protective of her brother. "He has too much power," Jag continued, "Power that we know nothing about and his mental condition isn't stable. He tried to kill you, Jaina and he almost succeeded. He's been tortured and played with by Shimrra for years. He should be out of his mind now."

"He's better now." Her words held only a small fraction of the defensiveness that he had expected. "Somewhat. I know it's hard for you to believe, but some of that damage has already been healed. That's why he didn't kill me." She looked into his eyes, hoping that he could see how much she wanted him to believe her. "I know he's changed," she added, "And so have I. I don't know how much he has changed yet, but something tells me that he will be okay." She paused to emphasize her next words. "He's my twin, Jag. I can't not trust Jacen. I have to help him as much as I can, but I will promise you that I will be careful."

It wasn't the answer that Jag had wanted but it was honest and more of a concession from Jaina than he had hoped for. "Thank you."

She leaned in closer to him and he met her lips without hesitating, drawing her into a deep kiss.

An exclamation of unbridled rage jerked them apart.


	49. Revelation

Jacen Solo walked the corridors of the Imperial Star Destroyer like a feral predator stalking among a herd of tamed beasts. Everything seemed foreign to him. Things that he had seen and used his whole life seemed like sickening abominations now. Some people greeted him warmly as a hero, only to step back from him involuntarily after looking into his eyes. Other people were more overtly frightened of him or shunned him. He hadn't decided which he disliked more.

His quarters were small and cramped. The walls seemed to press in on him. Even as his mind told him that this was not a trap or a cage, his body said otherwise. There was no one here that he could speak to, no one that seemed to understand. No one but Jaina, and his twin had been keeping her mind locked tightly away from his for the past three days since they had come aboard the Star Destroyer.

He was grateful to Jaina for coming for him, but his sister had changed at least as much as he had in the years since that mission to Myrkr. Even she was almost unfamiliar to him. She seemed to be somehow vacant, in a way that Jacen had never seen his twin act before. She acted normally, but she somehow seemed distant from it all. It worried Jacen almost as much as it worried him that he wasn't becoming reaccustomed to his former life.

That was why he had decided to go and talk to Jaina. That at least was still familiar. The knowledge that he could say anything to Jaina and she would understand had never changed. Maybe they could help one another.

"Jacen?" Her voice was still groggy with sleep as she opened the door to her quarters for him. She let him in without hesitation, but as she sank to a seat on her bunk, one of the few seats in the room, he noticed that her flight suit was dirty and rumpled, obviously slept in.

He didn't take a seat and instead chose to lean against the wall. It was the most relaxed posture that he had assumed in years when not consumed by total exhaustion. They stared at one another in silence for a while before Jaina finally asked, "Are you okay?"

He studied her face, contemplating how truthful he should be with her. Finally he decided to go with more or less total honesty. Jaina was after all, his twin. "It's different. Everything seems unfamiliar and almost wrong. I see the world that I grew up in through the eyes of the Vong. I can feel the people's distrust and their fear, and I think that they should be afraid."

She shook her head in a denial. "No, they shouldn't. They just don't understand."

Jacen launched himself off of the wall towards her in blink of an eye. "Jaina, I would have killed you."

Her reflexes responded just as quickly and she too sprung into motion. She met him in the middle of the room. "But you didn't. Uncle Luke could have killed Mom during his encounter with the cloned Emperor, but he didn't. Tahiri could have killed Anakin after she had been Shaped, but she didn't." She looked deep into his eyes. "I trust you, Jacen."

He looked back at her with the knowledge of what the Vong had done to him in his eyes. It made most people jerk away in terror. Jaina didn't flinch. "You can't frighten me away for my own good," she said quietly. "Not going to happen. I've done the same thing for years, Jasa, and it only brings more death and pain." She looked away from him, staring at some unseeable point beyond the wall. "Did you know that it's been over a year since I last saw Mom and Dad?" She didn't wait for him to respond to her question. "I saw them in a reception line for a diplomatic function that I had attended to get more monetary backing for Twin Suns. That was the first time I had seen them in quite some time. I let without saying goodbye. I don't when I last saw Ben or Uncle Luke. This war has consumed me and the people I care about the most." She looked back up at him and he could see the tears and grief in Jaina's eyes. "If Kyp's death taught me one thing, Jacen, it was to hold onto the people that you love and don't let go or push them away because some day they might never come back."

It was an unusual speech for his usually pragmatic sister. It lent it all the more weight. He nodded at her, accepting what she said without comment. He was almost silent for the rest of the time that he spent there. Jaina noticed but didn't comment on it, simply letting him be and enjoying having him back again. But for Jacen, even this had been changed, tainted, by his years in the hands of the Vong. Despite that, however, this was the most relaxed and free that he had been in years. Part of him reveled in the sensation and another part of him abhorred it as abomination.

He never told Jaina about the terrifying dreams and strange visions that had been haunting him.

\- -

"I thought I'd find you here." The voice was soft and quiet, but it carried all the way up to where Jaina was sitting. She looked down abruptly, turning away from the stars that she had been staring at.

"Jag?" She stood up to jump down from the ledge that she was sitting on in the deserted cargo bay, but he quickly held up a hand to stop her.

He looked up at her stiffly and asked in that same quiet voice, "Give me a lift up?"

She nodded quickly, surprised by his request, but did as he asked and used the Force to gently float him up to her level.

This time he didn't stumble as he regained his footing on the solid durasteel. They stared at one another in uncertain silence. Jaina, as usual was the first to break their self-imposed silence. "What are you doing here?" Her tone wasn't defensive, but rather resigned. They would have to continue working together professionally, at least until they reached Bastion and went their separate ways. There was no reason to make it more difficult than it had to be.

"I needed to see you. I wanted to talk to you, Jaina."

She looked over at him in surprise, all thoughts of their professional dealings gone. "What's left to say?" she asked quietly. "I think we covered everything before."

He shook his head. "Not everything, Jaina. You left before I had time to think," he explained softly. "Cem and I had a chance to talk and I think everything's going to be okay."

She looked back out at the stars. He had just given her the confirmation that she hadn't wanted to receive, "So you'll be going back to Chiss space soon then?"

"No. Cem and I have decided to keep the Spikes in the Known Regions for a while longer. She'll continue to report back to CEDF Intelligence about my actions, but this time, at least, I'll know what she's reporting. That should buy us some time to decide how we're going to deal with the situation with our family. I want to find a way out of CEDF and Cem wants to get out, too. She's tired of being CEDF's pawn."

"Jag," she cut in, interrupting him, but he silenced her, putting a finger to her lips. A shiver ran down her spine at his light touch.

"She told me everything," he said quietly, "And it doesn't matter, Jaina." He looked at her fully, meeting her beautiful brown eyes with his own. "I love you. I know what happened with Cem and how you were when it happened. I'm not happy about it, but I'm not going to let that get between us. Not after everything that we've been through."

He stepped closer to her as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and he smiled broadly as she leaned up to kiss him. As the kiss ended, she didn't pull away from him. Instead she tucked her head in, laying it against his chest as he held her to him closely. "I love you, too," she whispered softly, unable to believe the turn that things had taken. It seemed, for one shining moment, as if everything was perfect.

In the next instant the entire Star Destroyer seemed to lurch, sending them stumbling. Jag caught them quickly, staying as far away from the edge as possible until they had fully regained their balance. It was Jaina, however, who noticed it first, just as the alarms began screaming. They had been pulled out of hyperspace.


	50. Jacen's Song

Jaina and Jag were running all out through the corridors of the Star Destroyer, heading towards the ship's control center as fast as they could. They had been scheduled to arrive at Bastion today, but they hadn't left hyperspace. They had been pulled from hyperspace and that almost always meant trouble.

Jag slammed bodily into a Tech going around the corner in the opposite direction and almost fell. Jaina caught his arm quickly, steadied him and pulled him back towards their destination. They made it to the turbolift a moment later, barely out of breath from their sprint through the ship. As the turbolift finally slid to a halt moments later, Jaina hardly even noticed that she had unconsciously reached over to take Jag's hand in her own as they stepped off of the turbolift.

She glanced quickly around the control center, looking for the officer in charge. To her relief that happened to be Captain Slarne for this shift. "What's our situation, Captain," she asked quickly as they approached him together. But before he could even speak, she could feel the tiny shivers that indicated weapons impacting against the Star Destroyer's shields and hull.

"Dovin Basal mines pulled us out of space, Colonel. The Vong were waiting for us when we came out of hyperspace. 'Skips are practically swarming us, but so far the rest of the fleet is hanging back."

Jaina glanced quickly at the large holographic projections that displayed the surrounding area of space and showed the current tactical situation, but Jag was already asking. "Have you been able to contact Palleaon or the rest of the fleet that's at Bastion? We're only in the outer edges of the Solar system."

Slarne shook his head once, sharply. "We're trying, Goddess, but it doesn't look good. The Vong have probably already jammed the frequencies."

She and Jag shared a quick glance. It was all that was necessary for them to silently converse and agree on their course of action. She switched her gaze back to the Captain. "Captain, deploy whatever squadrons of fighters that we have left to deal with the skips, but keep the other ships back until we see the rest of what we're facing." She looked back at Jag. "You'll take what's left of Twin Suns with the Spike's," she half-asked, half-informed him.

"I will."

She hesitated. She wanted to go with Jag, to fly his wing through this fight, but she also knew that she needed to stay there to coordinate the fighting on a larger scale.

Before she could voice her momentary hesitation, however, Jag was already nodding in agreement. "You'll have to coordinate things from here, Jaina," he said quickly, his mind thinking through the battle ahead as she was beginning to. He stopped a moment later and looked at Jaina. In that moment, his full focus was on her and not the chaos surrounding them or the battle before them. He moved closer to her, until there was no distance between them and kissed her gently. As he pulled away from the kiss, he whispered softly, so that only she could hear him, "I love you." His next steps carried him into the turbolift.

Jaina turned quickly back to Slarne as Jag left, her body language almost daring him to comment. "How many Vong ships are we facing, Captain," she asked him, moving closer to the holographic display in front of her as it lit up.

"It's not the largest fleet that we've faced, Goddess, but it is one of the most dangerous," he supplied as she studied the formations around all of the years of fighting the Vong, their biotechnology hadly seemed unfamiliar to her anymore.

_Jacen?_

She called to her brother through the Force. There was a good chance that his insights into the Yuuzhan Vong could help her and make a definite difference in this fight. She felt Jacen reach back towards her mind and his acknowledgement of her mental call. He was coming.

"Goddess," Slarne's sharp call drew her attention quickly back to the holorepresentation of the fighting. As she had been preoccupied, the Vong had begun to rapidly close in on the smaller Insider's fleet. Two edges of the Vong fleet led the way in a U-shaped formation that left Jaina worried. There was something about it...

In the next instant, she had her answer and Jaina swore violently as a Vong vessel dropped out of hyperspace, filling the empty position between the leading edges of the fleet. It was the monstrous vessel that had killed Kyp. Jacen had since told her that, that vessel was Shimrra's equivalent of a flagship and Jaina was immediately certain that the Supreme Overlord was aboard it.

Somehow the Supreme Overlord had discovered their destination and arrived before them. It wasn't something that Jaina had anticipated, but she almost immediately saw it as an opportunity. It was dangerous to the point of being suicidal, but if Shimrra could be killed or captured, it could be a pivotal turning point in the war.

She would need to get a message to Palleaon, however, and that would mean that the messenger would have to pass sucessfuly through the entire Vong fleet. There was only one pilot, besides herself, that she knew would be capable of it. "Slarne," she said quickly, "I want to destroy as much of that Vong fleet as we can." She looked at him meaningfully. "Use whatever you have to, but I don't want that vessel," she pointed at the large tentacled vessel on the holodisplay, "to survive. Shimrra is on board."

He nodded at her gravely, "Understood, Goddess," and she realized that he really did understand. He was a lifetime soldier. He had grown up during the end of the Clone Wars and survived the war against the Empire. He certainly understood the necessity of battle all too well. She returned his nod and turned away, plucking her comlink off of her belt. She quickly tuned it to one of her preset frequencies and waited.

An instant later a burst of static hissed back at her quickly followed by Jag's tense voice. "Jaina? What's happening?" He asked quickly.

"Shimrra's here," she said bluntly.

He responded tersely, "I know."

In other less life threatening circumstance, she might have found his reply slightly amusing, as it was it only increased her desire to be ou there flying beside him. "Palleaon needs to know that it's Shimrra. He has to be stopped here, Jag. It could determine the fate of the war."

As they talked, she had picked Jag out of the mass of starfighters, pinpointing his location as he dueled with skips. She watched him in silence, waiting for his reply. Seconds seemed to turn into centuries. She was almost hoping that he would refuse, but she knew that he wouldn't. Jagged Fel would never back down from what had to be done.

"Frequencies are jammed," he asked quickly as he evaded a skip, dancing out of the way of molten plasma in a way that had to be infuriating to the skip hunting him.

"They are," she replied quickly.

"I'll deliver the message," he responded without a hesitating.

"Thank you," she paused, "Jag," she didn't finish her sentence. What could she say to him? He knew without a doubt that she loved him and she refused to say goodbye to him. In the end, she said the only thing that she could and hoped that it would be enough. "May the Force be with you."

She studied the holodisplay for an instant, following Jag with her eyes, trying to predict his moves before they were made.

"Jaina?" She recognized Jacen's voice and the distinctive ripple of emotion that poured off of the bridge crew as they registed his presence. It was a sense of fear and not quite animosity. Jaina wished that she could deal with it now, but it wasn't the time. She slipped one arm through his, as she turned away from watching Jag's progress, and drew him closer to her and the holodisplay. She gestured to it with a wave of her free hand.

"Shimrra's here. His fleet pulled us out of hyperspace at the edge of the Bastion system and he's cut communication between us and Palleaon. We're tring to get a message through to him. I want to go after Shimrra." She looked over at him. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Don't do this," was Jacen's immediate reply. "He will destroy this fleet and then take Bastion."

"We are doing this," she retorted, "And if we pull back now, he'll still take Bastion. The only question is whether you'll help us or not."

He hesitated.

"Goddess, I think you may need to hear this," Slarne's voice pulled her attention away from Jacen, but she didn't turn to face him.

"What is it," she asked quickly. In response an audio clip began to play from all of the speakers on the bridge.

 **"I, Shimrra, Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong, command you, Infidels and _Jedaii_ , give me the Solo twins. I have come for them and they will be mine. Give them to me and I will not crush your worthless world**."

The voice stopped and Slarned added into the silence, "It was also broadcast to the Imperials."

"He's lying," Jacen spoke up abruptly, but his voice was distant, as if he wasn't entirely focused. It worried Jaina.

"I know," she responded, "And Palleaon knows, too, but he may have no choice."

"I know how to stop this." Jacen's voice was steady and grim. It almost worried her more than it had before.

"What's your plan," she asked him quickly, but he only shook his head.

"Do you really trust me?" It was a question that she hadn't expected, but could honestly answer without hesitation.

"Yes."

"Then you have to let me do this, Jaina. It feels so right." He was talking quickly then, abut dreams and visions and Jaina couldn't understand him.

"Goddess, incoming!" Slarne's voice was raised almost in a yell.

She turned sharply back towards Slarne, glancing at the tactical situation. Jacen watched, slipping back into the shadows of the room, as Jaina began issuing orders and rearranging the forces that she commanded. He watched her and saw the strategy that she was beginning to pull together. It was bold and brilliant, but it wasn't good enough, not to accomplish what Jaina wanted to do. He spared one last glimpse at his sister, and then turned away.

In the confusion aboard the Star Destroyer, it was easy for Jacen to slip down to the hangar bay. It was even easier for him to commandeer a small, and severly damaged b-wing. It was beyond use, but it would suit his purposes and after all he wouldn't be using it to fight the Vong.

It took him two tries to start the engines, and it was only once the b-wing was in motion that the maintenance crews in the hangar bay noticed him. There was nothing that they could do to stop him then, however, and Jacen barely noticed their curses and shrieks of protest, as he maneuvered the craft out of the Star Destroyer and into space.

Stray laser fire, torpedoes, molten plasma, debris from damaged or destroyed fighters and huge hunks of ruined coral spun through the midst of the area where the battle still raged. Jacen dove into the heart of the destruction, intent on his goal. He watched only the slashing tentacles and destructive maw that destroyed everything in its path, and when he was in the heart of the fighting he stopped, letting the b-wing drift. With one hand he opened the b-wing's comm unit to broadcast on all frequencies. He took a deep breath and then spoke. His words rang with power.

"Shimrra, Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong, favored of the Gods, blessed of Yun Yuuzhan and Yun Yammka, I, Jacen Solo, challenge you to a duel to the death."


	51. Shimrra's Return

As her twin's powerful words blared from the speakers all across the Star Destroyer's control center, Jaina was galvanized into action. It was her nature to be in motion and her twin's challenge to Shimrra was not enough to change that basic reaction. Hesitating only long enough to coordinate the orders for the ships directly under her command with Slarne and to give him a few other secondary orders, Jaina ran towards the turbolift. She didn't even question how Jacen had managed to 'procure' a B-wing, as her focus shifted in an instant from the larger battle to concentrate on the smaller, but suddenly much more important fight. The Force was telling her that Jacen's duel was the only thing of true importance at the moment and she would listen.

The only words that she uttered as she stepped into the waiting turbolift were, "Have my x-wing prepped."

* * *

 

Jaina flew with the singleminded determination and unerring focus that made her one of the best pilots that the GFFA boasted. Skips simply couldn't match her maneuvers and gouts of molten plasma went wide around her as she dove towards the enormous monstrosity that had drawn her twin in, in the midst of the chaos of the battle, to duel Shimrra.

She approached the massive tentacled vessel with more than a hint of apprehension. She would've had to be insane to face this vessel fearlessly and now Jaina had far too much to lose to be fearless. That was why this had to be done perfectly.

She remembered as she studied her monstrous opponent, how she had felt as 16, launching herself at Landro's asteroid field at full speed. She had been proud and determined to prove herself there. Nothing had been able to touch her that day. She let that memory wash over her and Jaina felt a wild, defiant grin begin to spread over her face. She looked up from her tactical console and out at the destructive flailing tentacles.

Jaina shoved the throttle as far forward as it would go and she felt her x- wing jump forwards with the surge of power. She waited, following a straight course towards Shimrra's vessel, until the tentacles flung towards her. Jaina's reaction was pure instincet. If she had hesitated- even for a fraction of a second to plan her evasive maneuvers- then she would already have been so much space dust.

She responded to the attack by cutting sharply down and away. Her astromech screamed in protest, in the next instant, as she cut all power to her engines and fell into the dive. However, the tentacled vessel hadn't accounted for her sudden loss of velocity and the tentacles flailed harmlessly past her.

She took advantage of her moment of reprieve to send her x-wing surging forwards again. As another tentacle lashed towards her x-wing, Jaina suddenly yawed away from it. Then she was under the vast vessel, mostly away from the tentacles and the spitting acid. She yanked the stick of her x-wing back and angled it up towards the underside of the Vong vessel. Without trepidation Jaina watched the underside of the vessel grow larger and larger, filling more and more of the view outside of her cockpit.

Her only action was to tilt the nose of her x-wing farther upwards so that it was climbing 'upwards' at about a 60 degree angle with the belly of the Vong vessel. She counted down the long seconds steadily, with each of her hands poised over different controls. She waited as her collision warning system blared in the noise of eminent danger and held her course past the point of no return. The instant after the last moment, she simultaneously fired all of her torpedoes and pulled the ejection lever.

* * *

 

Jagged Fel tensed abruptly as Jacen's challenge filted over the frequencies. Only one word flashed through his mind.  _Jaina_. She would respond immediately to Jacen's challenge-he couldn't believe that she would allow him to challenge Shimrra.

Almost without thinking, Jag gave the order for his second in command to take over the squadron. Shimrra's bold decleration had taken away any need for him to convey that information to Pellaeon and the Spikes had already joined in the main fight. He also had a feeling that Jaina might need him more at the moment.

He tucked his clawcraft around in a turn that would have caused any x-wing pilot to blackout. As he headed quickly back towards the Insider's Star Destroyer, he threaded his way through the mass of skips and starfighters engaged in the en masse fighter duels, engaging in a fight only when he couldn't in good conscience pass it up. It took as much talent to bypass the skips intent on vaping him as it would have to survive a duel with them.

By the time that he was approaching the Star Destroyer, Jag had several skips tailing him in an entourage of destruction. He juked and jinked away from their attacks, cutting and spiraling into evasive maneuvers, as he attempted to contract the Star Destroyer. There was still no response to his request to land aboard the Destroyer as its gunners finally began to target the skips attacking him. A slight beeping on his tactical board caught his attention almost instantly. It was the signal for a pilot in distress-one that Jag had become all too familiar with in his years of fighting.

It was the identity of the person in distress that caught his attention. The x-wing was designated as belonging to Twin Suns Leader. That could only mean Jaina. He watched in that moment as her x-wing grew closer and closer to the underbelly of Shimrra's vessel. He wasn't even paying attention to the Vong who were firing on him. He waited, holding his breath, expection Jaina to pull away at any moment. And then she didn't.

The blip representing Jaina and the blip representing the Vong vessel merged on his console. Jag's fist slammed into his thigh as Jaina's ship exploded into the underside of the Vong ship in a massive explosion.


	52. The Climax

For an instant the explosion was all around Jaina, and then she was clear - the frigid vacuum of space replacing the searing heat of the explosion in an instant. The momentum was quickly pushing her away from the exploded X- Wing and the damage that it had done on the underbelly of Shimrra's vessel.

Jaina's gloved hand clutched her lightsaber tightly as the realities of being EV closed in around her. She concentrated fiercely as she calculated the trajectory of the course that her ejection seat would take. She was almost certain that her setup had been perfect. Jaina watched the small timer counting down on the arm control panel of her EV suit. As it grew closer to zero, Jaina slowly used the small repulsors on her ejection seat to turn 180 degrees from where she had been facing. She was suddenly facing the underbelly of the Vong vessel again, as her ejection chair rushed towards it.

Carefully, gradually, she used her small repulsors to gently crash into the rocky coral of the Vong hull. She grabbed onto it quickly with her one free hand and tried to dig her feet into footholds. In the end it was a combination of determination and the Force that kept her there for the first several instants. With a few quick twists of various releases, Jaina was soon free of the restraints that kept her strapped into her ejection seat. She didn't allow herself to think about what would happen if she failed or floated off in to space.

Still clinging as tightly as she could to the coral 'beneath' her, Jaina ignited her lightsaber. With careful precision she began to cut into the hull beside her, working as quickly as she could. The agonizing minutes seemed to slip so slowly by as she cut deeper and deeper. Before long, she was actually inside a meter or so gouge into the coral, continuing to slash deeper. The moments began to meld together as her motions became repetitive.

She wasn't sure how long she had been cutting when the first tiny rush of pressurized gasses began to push against her. A gush of various fluids followed it, rushing out into the void of space and covering Jaina's EV suit in, what she was sure was a foul smelling liquid. She instinctively grabbed onto a convenient piece of coral as the liquids and gasses being expelled pushed at her and then used her other hand to complete the cut that would fully create her opening.

Jaina used the Force to shove the hunk of coral aside and out into space before she rolled- far more awkwardly than she should have- into the opening, lightsaber first. She rose to her feet in an attack stance, searching immediately for any threats. Surprisingly she found none. Jaina wasted no time pondering her good luck. Instead she moved quickly towards the nearest nerve cluster. It only took her a few instants to get the results that she desired from the Vong technology and soon she had the breach somewhat sealed over and the chamber repressurized.

Jaina's next move was to strip off her more cumbersome EV suit for the regular flight suit that she wore underneath it. There was a chance that she might need the EV suit later, but it was a risk she was willing to take. At the moment, what she needed more was maneuverability and something that wouldn't hinder her in a fight.

Jaina left her lightsaber ignited as she glanced from one end of the corridor to the other. Without the schematics of this vessel there was no way for her to find Shimrra's position, but she could at least make an educated guess because some marking were similar on almost all Vong vessels.

As Jaina made her decision and started down a corridor, she didn't even bother with stealth. In this situation there was no chance that she could pass as a Yuuzhan Vong and besides, that wasn't Jaina's intention. She wanted to make a bold statement, to do something that Shimrra could not miss. It was the only hope that she had of saving both Jacen and the fleets of ships fighting the Vong.

* * *

 

Jacen Solo stood tall and defiant as the slayers guided him towards Shimrra. Before he had even gotten near the Supreme Overlord, he had been stripped of his offending infidel garments and given Vong garments similar to what he had been wearing when Jaina had found him. He had taken them in silence, without protest or thanks, but his own reaction to the garments had frightened him. They felt comfortable and familiar as Jacen moved through the bowels of the Vong vessel. Even the contemptuous, hate-filled glares of the slayers felt more right than the pitying glances of the Insiders. He wondered for an instant if his twin's trust in him was misplaced.

Then the slayers moved forwards to shove him harshly through an opening and into the chamber beyond it. Jacen, however was moving before the slayers had touched him. He moved with poise and an air of power as if he hadn't barely avoided being sent sprawling. Jacen stepped into the room with an air of supreme confidence. He barely managed to keep the surprise at seeing the large audience around Shimrra from showing in his face or his body language - not that any of the Vong would have been able to read his emotions - but as a matter or control. He would need every ounce of control that he could summon to finish the duel with Shimrra. If he couldn't even control his own features, he wouldn't stand a chance against Shimrra.

It was with a look of blank detachment that Jacen took in the chamber surrounding him. It was an oval shaped room with him at one end and Shimrra at the other. Slayers, Shapers and Priests formed the audience around Shimrra. They lurked around the edges of Jacen's perceptions, standing boldly in their places.

For Jacen they hardly seemed there. Shimrra's presence was overwhelming in its sheer size. Without even trying, Shimrra's mental might pushed against Jacen's mind, intent on destroying anything that resisted.

It wasn't the only thing that Jacen could focus on, it was the only that that could exist for Jacen. Shimrra's mental presence couldn't be blocked out. It overwhelmed Jacen and stripped him of any sense of self. Jacen struggled to retreat into his own mind, to regain control of his mind and defend himself from Shimrra's mental presence. However, the Supreme Overlord wouldn't allow it. Wave after wave of Shimrra's destructive fury ripped through Jacen's mind with an ease born of years of finding the Jedi's weaknesses causing the young Jedi Knight to sink to his knees, defeated without a blow struck.

* * *

 

Jag stood in the control center of the Insider's Star Destroyer. He was officially in charge of the Insider's fleet now that Jaina was d- missing in action. He supposed he was still in shock, or maybe denial was the more appropriate term, but he didn't have the luxury to examine that situation at the moment. He was choosing to focus instead on the battle unfolding in front of him. Jag didn't think that there was a way that the Insider's and the Imperials could succeed against Shimrra's fleet. He didn't have the Force or years of tactical experience commanding large fleets of ships. He was no Thrawn or Ackbar. However, he wasn't about to stop trying.

"Slarne," he spoke sharply, "Pull our ships back from Shimrra's vessel. All he's doing is destroying everything that we're throwing at him. I want him to come at us. Reassign all of the ships attacking him to other Vong targets and set a course directly towards him at the best speed that we can manage. I want his undivided attention."

Jag didn't wait for the Captain to acknowledge his orders and instead turned his attention the star charts in front of him. If he timed this just right, it could work.

"Colonel Fel," a sharp voice caught his attention and he looked up quickly. He was pleased to see that his orders had been followed explicitly so far. Shimrra's vessel was surprisingly fast and maneuverable, especially for a vessel of its size. It was to fast to outrun as one Imperial vessel was currently trying to do. Jag hoped that it wouldn't be too long before they caught Shimrra's attention with this stunt.

"Hold this course," he said to the tense helmsman. They would know in just a moment if his ploy would work.

Jag glanced down at the datapad that he still held in his hands and began to work quickly, entering data. What he wanted done was unorthodox and some would say not possible. He intended to do it and he intended to do it without alerting the Vong. The odds that there were Vong or Peace Brigade spies in the control center of an Insider's Star Destroyer wasn't good, but Jag wouldn't take any chances with this plan.

He glanced back up from the entries that he was making on the datapad and smiled grimly. Shimrra's vessel was coming around now. It had dropped away from the pursuit of the Imperial ship and was orienting itself towards the Insider's Star Destroyer. Jag waited as they rapidly closed the distance. They were almost there. He stepped forward to the helm console again and quickly dropped the datapad that he had been working on into the helmsman's lap.

"Your new orders are on there," Jag stated quickly. "Carry them out. Now."

The helmsman plugged them into his console without looking, intent on piloting, but the moment that he glimpsed his new orders, he looked sharply up at Jag, disbelief written all over his face. "That's not possible! It can't be done," he said vehemently.

Jag looked at him without a hint of sympathy. "Those are your orders, follow them."

"I can't. There is no way to do what you're asking. We don't have the time or the maneuverability. This is a Star Destroyer, not a clawcraft, Colonel. It's not possible," he repeated.

Jag's response was simple and blunt. "You have no choice. Make it possible or our current course will ram us directly into it."

The man continued to hesitate and Jag frowned. He would not allow one disbelieving helmsman to stop him from completing Jaina's mission. Jag raised his charric from its holster at his waist and pressed it to the man's temple in one smooth move. His finger covered the trigger with the ease of familiarity. "Do. It. Now."

The helmsman didn't need any more convincing. The control center was gripped by a frozen silence as everyone watched the tension filled display both inside and outside the ship.

Jag watched, hardly noticing the weapon that he held in his hand any more as he focused on the maneuver that the helmsman was attempting. The Star Destroyer was almost to its target, rushing towards its destination at its top speed when it started to roll. Because of its mass it was rare to see a Star Destroyer attempt a maneuver such as this, especially when it was at its most vulnerable in the midst of a battle like this one.

The massive tentacles of Shimrra's vessel began to writhe towards the Star Destroyer, seeking to connect with the hull of the Star Destroyer in a surge of destructive fury. In the next instant the tentacles found nothing to strike out at, as the Insider's Star Destroyer completed its roll and passed over the midsection of Shimrra's vessel. The roll had turned the Star Destroyer up on its side so that only the ridge along the very top of the Star Destroyer was in range of the Vong tentacles, significantly reducing the area that the Vong could damage.

Even as the Star Destroyer was passing over Shimrra's vessel, it was changing its course to match that of the Star Destroyer. It would be so close behind the Star Destroyer that its massive engines might singe the coral of the Vong vessel.

"Colonel, should we..." Slarne's voice trailed off as he searched for some alternative to get the Vong ship away from them.

"No, Captain," Jag said, lowering his weapon from his side, without any fan fair. "We'll hold our course."

It was several agonizing minutes later before the Star Destroyer cleared the Vong vessel. Jag's voice was quite as he turned to Slarne. "Have all of our rear gun batteries concentrate their fire on Shimrra's vessel. I want them to keep all of their attention on us."

Jag could feel the entire Star Destroyer shudder as one of the great tentacles connected. They only had to hold on for a few more moments. Their course had already taken them past Bastion and they had moved away from the battle towards the heart of the solar system. In fact they were headed towards the very heart of the solar system, Bastion's star. Their present speed and heading, even with the heavy damage that they were taking, was leading them into the sun.

The blinding glare from the light of the sun was already filling the control center as they held their course. "Sir," the helmsman's voice held less challenge this time, but his voice was still questioning. He had no desire to burn up in a sun.

Jag didn't look at the man, only looking at the distance gauge on the helm console. "Not yet."

"Sir, the sun is beginning to pull us in. We have only fifteen more seconds before we can't pull out."

Jag smirked remembering a story he had heard of how Han Solo had similarly foiled the Imperials over twenty-five years ago using a similar technique. If it was good enough for that old smuggler, then maybe it would work for them. "Reverse our course in twenty seconds." His voice was steady.

The helmsman didn't even bother to protest, although Jag could see that he wanted to. The seconds slipped by slowly as Jag counted them down under his breath. "fifteen...twelve...eight...six...four...three...one. The Star Destroyer shuddered with the strain of its engines, but continued to sink into the sun and then it lurched. The Star Destroyer and everything on it froze in the next instant. It hung in space and then slowly it began to move away, so slowly at first that it was hardly even measurable and then faster. Shimrra's vessel, however, wasn't so lucky. It continued to slide towards the sun.

The personnel on the control center erupted into cheers, but Jag didn't notice. He stared instead at the vessel that had claimed Jaina's life. It seemed so unreal that after everything he had lost her now.

 _Fel._  The word was clear and distinct even through the cheering, as if it had been spoken into his ear, but no one was there. He looked around in surprise, trying to find the source of the call. His eyes fell on Mara as he looked towards the turbolift. The injured Jedi Master leaned heavily against the wall.

Jag hurried to her side, shoving through the cheering crowd. He wasn't sure what to say to her. How could he tell her about Jaina? Could he even force himself to say those words? Did Mara already know? He spared himself the necessity of speaking as he offered her an arm. To her surprise, she accepted the offer of help and spared him the necessity of speaking with one horrible and wonderful phrase.

"Jaina is alive, Fel, and she is on that vessel." She pointed at the vessel visibly sinking into the sun.


	53. The End Nears

The Force was guiding Jaina towards her brother, but at the moment the sense that she was getting from the Force was confusing and frustrating. Her frustration wasn't helping her read the Force with any more clarity, either.

Besides, at the moment, Jaina was inside a tiny crawlway, barely big enough for her to slid through, and occasionally the walls of the living coral structure would contract around her until Jaina couldn't move and barely even breathe. It was those moments when Jaina was certain that she would never leave Shimrra's vessel.

It felt as if Jacen was right beside her now, but that was definitely impossible. There wasn't room for a blaster beside her, much less her brother. She groaned in frustration and then let her chin rest on the coral underneath her. Her eyes drifted shut as she focused on pushing everything else out of her mind and concentrated fiercely on finding Jacen. Slowly and then more quickly, images began to flash through her mind. They showed her Shimrra and Jacen. Her twin was in even more danger than before.

Jaina jerked back in surprise as another image coursed through her mind and then she cursed as she realized that she was directly above Jacen. She hissed in a breath and quickly ignited her lightsaber. In her close quarters, the weapon was suddenly transformed from elegant to awkward in her hands. Cutting the right size hole would be at best difficult under the present conditions, especially if she wanted to maintain the element of surprise.

Jaina finally managed to find an angle at which she could sink her lightsaber into the coral. She worked as quickly as she could until she had completed the cut. Then she used the Force to lift it out of its position and place it further along the tiny crawl space. Jaina hesitated for a moment, waiting for any thud bugs, blorlash jelly or any other nasty Vong surprises to come flying up at her before she leaned over the edge and looked down.

What she saw was Shimrra standing over her twin in mid-motion of a death blow. Without wasting a moment, Jaina dove forwards into the opening that she had cut and fell into the open air below her. She rolled and crashed into Shimrra boots first with enough momentum to knock even the large Supreme Overlord off balance.

The blow intended to kill Jacen went mostly wide, but didn't completely miss him. As she rolled away from the Supreme Overlord and sprayed a quick volley of blaster fire at the slayers who had charged at her, Jaina didn't notice the two small puncture wounds in her brother's neck or that way that he still didn't move.

Her lightsaber arced through a quick series of parries, lunges and thrusts as she fought against both Shimrra and his slayers. She wasn't protected by the duels one-against-one rule and the slayers were eager for the blood of the Jedaii who had become the embodiment of Yun Harla. Years of fighting had honed her skills with her lightsaber and she moved with quick ruthless precision. She fought her way through the group of slayers methodically until she reached the last one. He was tall, even for a Vong warrior, and was dwarfed only by Shimrra. He and Jaina had clashed blade to amphistaff or exchanged blows several times during the course of her fight, but he had always turned her attack aside or she had been diverted.

Now he faced her, his amphistaff held pointing down, diagonally across his body.

"Jaina," Jacen's voice was weak, barely a whisper, but it caught her attention almost immediately. She had lost track of her twin during the battle, except for ensuring that he wasn't being attacked. It was only then that she risked a quick glance at him and realized that he was still not moving. His body was covered with pale and covered with sweat. He was shaking.

Jaina started to turn towards him involuntarily, but stopped as the slayer in front of her let out a loud Yuuzhan Vong war cry. She responded purely on instinct, concerned more with seeing Jacen than fighting the slayer in front of her. The hand holding her blaster loosely at her side snapped up and she fired rapidly at him, aiming for a kill shot.

The slayer surged forward, releasing a group of thud bugs. He made it two more steps before Jaina's repeated shots took him down. It took her several more chopping slashes with her lightsaber before she dispatched all of the thud bugs. An instant later as she turned back to Jacen, she found herself face to face with Shimrra instead.

The Supreme Overlord's face was covered in a look of fury. Shimrra pushed her back with wide powerful strikes from his amphistaff, hacking at her defenses, searching for any opening that he could penetrate. Several times the razor sharp crest of his amphistaff would slice across her arms or her thighs, creating painful lacerations, but never truly breaking through her defenses.

Her parries grew wilder and wilder as her forced her defend herself from attacks in several different directions almost simultaneously. As she reached forward to parry one of his amphistaff's away, Shimrra spoke a single quick word.

By the time that Jaina realized what was happening, it was too late—the small tkun had circled one portion of itself around her ankle and constricted, neatly tripping her forwards. She ducked, trying to turn her fall into a roll, but she didn't succeed. Large clawed, pincers and strangely shaped digits clutched Jaina in a painfully tight grip. She barely had time to pull out the small vibroblade tucked into her boot as she was yanked roughly upright.

Shimrra pulled her back against him, one massive hand replacement choking the life out of her. The other hand held a coufee. "Make your peace with the Gods,  _Jedaii_ ," he bellowed as he raised it to slit her throat.

Jaina, still struggling painfully against his strangle hold, couldn't reply. Instead she activated the small vibroblade that she held in her hand and plunged it behind her as hard as she could. She felt it sink in up to the hilt. For an instant, Shimrra's grip on her neck tightened and then his grip crumbled.

She jerked away from him, staggering towards Jacen as she struggled to get her breath back. She dropped to her knees quickly beside he twin, grabbing his hand tightly as she quickly assessed what had happened to him.

Jacen spared her the trouble by weakly brushing at his neck. "Poison," he whispered bluntly, "Shimrra's amphistaff." He met her eyes with purpose and his grip on her hand tightened. "No chance, Jaya," he whispered, his voice full of regret.

"No," she sad firmly, her jaw set with the stubbornness characteristic of her family. She shook her head in a denial and rose to her feet. She grabbed Jacen's arm and pulled him up as well. She slung one of her arms around his waist and put his other arm across her shoulders. She started to drag him across the room, but she barely made it two steps before he sagged next to her, sliding back to the ground, and dragging her with him.

They landed in a tangled and exhausted heap. With characteristic determination, Jaina rose and started to lift him up again. Jacen's hand reached up with more speed than she would have expected and wrapped tightly around her wrist.

"Jaya," she could feel his fingers trembling against her skin. He shook his head slightly.

She stared at him, almost at a loss for everything. The defiant set of her face trembled and a single tear slid down it. "Not you, Jasa, not after Kyp..." She couldn't finish her thought.

Jacen reached out to her through the Force, seeking her familiar, comforting mental presence. Jaina immediately reached out to him, clutching him in a tight mental embrace. Nothing could make her let go of him as the tears began to slide down her face. She hardly even noticed as they fell off of her face and began to mingle with the cold sweat beaded on Jacen's partially bare chest.

A look of sudden surprise in Jacen's eyes sent a flash of warning through Jaina. As her danger sense blared with a sharp warning, Jaina simultaneously heard a sharp warning from Jacen through their twin bond.  _Jaina, behind you!  
_  
The quick sucession of warnings was more than Jaina needed to spur her into action. She rolled aside instantly, reaching to her side for her holstered blaster as she got clear of Jacen. She found her target and began spraying blaster fire almost before she was flat on her back again. It took her an instant longer to recognize that the bulky, looming figure coming at Jacen was Shimrra.

He still clutched the coufee that he had held at her throat as he dove towards Jacen. Jaina continued to fire at Shimrra and he kept coming towards Jacen. At the last instant, Jaina reached for her lightsaber, clipped at her belt and caught only air. It was enough to make her freeze in shock. That hadn't happened to her since she was a very young apprentice.

The familiar snap-hiss and the sudden cast of purple light caught her attention immediately. Her gaze snapped over to Jacen. In a surprisingly fast move, Jacen had drawn her lightsaber from her belt as she had rolled away from him and ignited it, drawing it through the air in a quick arc.

The upper fourth of the lightsaber in Jacen's hand found the gap in Shimrra's armor at the base of Shimrra's neck and slid through it. Shimrra's lifeless body hit the floor partially on top of Jacen.

The twins lay frozen for one silent instant and then Jaina used the Force to roll Shimrra off of Jacen. She crawled the few steps back to Jacen's side. His vacant eyes stared and the way that he clutched at his neck with his free hand scared her.

"Jasa," she demanded his attention, worried, as she absentmindedly grabbed her lightsaber from his hand and flicked it off. She felt a sense of wonderment pouring off of him. "Jacen," she asked again, fear and uncertainly filling her voice. "Talk to me, brother."

"It's gone," he said simply, finally meeting her eyes. "The poison, the wound," he added quickly, "They're both gone."

"What," she demanded in disbelief, pushing his hand aside to get a better look, but Jacen was right. They were gone and she could tell that he was already beginning to look better. "But what? How?" Jaina's voice was full of bewilderment, disbelief and wonder.

Jacen seemed to consider it for a moment and then looked at her in amazement. "The tears, our tears," he corrected himself. "You cried for me and you wanted me to heal. You wanted it enough that you changed your tears." He smiled at her then, one of the first and only real smiles that Jaina had seen from him since he had been captured. A large shudder jerked through the vessel throwing Jaina to her knees.

"Sithspawn!" Jaina snapped, "What was that?"

Smaller tremors began to shudder through the coral almost continually. Jacen cocked his head to the side as if he was listening for an instant and then shook his head. "I don't know. I can't tell. The brain of the vessel is in too much pain to be coherent. All I can feel from it is a sense of intense heat and pain. It would probably be a good time to leave," Jacen added, almost as an afterthought as he called his own lightsaber back to him.

"It would indeed," a voce agreed from the entrance.

"And we came to provide the ride," a second, decidedly female voice added.

The twins looked over in surprise and asked in perfect chorus.

"Jag?"

"Mara?"

* * *

 

As the  _Jade Shadow_  slipped quickly away from its position on the forward hull of Shimrra's vessel several minutes later, there were several tense moments- not the least of which was breaking free of the sun's gravity, but there true problem wasn't apparent until they were in free space again.

With Shimrra's vessel out of the battle, the Insiders and the Imperials had attacked the rest of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet with fervor, but a small group of the Vong vessels had broken off to target the  _'Shadow_. Even Jaina and Mara working together couldn't keep the Vong off of the  _'Shadow_. It was through gritted teeth and staccato bursts of laser fire that Jaina turned to Jacen.

"Can you tell them that you won the duel?"

It was as if a memory had suddenly connected for Jacen. A cocky Solo grin covered his face. "I can do better than that, sister dear." He took the transmitter from Jaina and a long Vong phrase rolled fluently off of his tongue.

Jaina stared in surprise as the Vong attacking them slowly stopped firing and reformed around the 'Shadow in the pattern of an escort. Jaina looked at him in disbelief.

"What did you say to them?"

Jacen just shook his head. "When I challenged Shimrra, I used the most formal phrasing that I could think of to ensure that Shimrra would be forced to accept the challenge." He met Jaina's eyes. "I didn't think I would win. I was just supposed to be a diversion for you. When Shimrra accepted my challenge, it was a challenge for his position as well as his life. They think that I'm their new Supreme Overlord."


	54. Epilogue

Six Months Later

For once Jaina Solo was not wearing a flight suite or her Jedi robes. Instead she wore a long, form fitting white dress, that conveyed a sense of glowing beauty and elegance that wasn't normally associated with Jaina. A happy smile lit up her face as she walked towards her father.

As Han watched his eldest child walk towards him, he wore a gruff, but proud smile. When she finally stood in front of him, he looked at her for a long moment, trying to memorize every detail of his daughter's features.

"Ready, Sweetheart," Han asked her, holding his arm out to her.

Jaina ignored the gesture and instead reached towards him to hug him tightly. Han returned the gesture, holding on to her gratefully. Only a few months ago, he and Leia had practically ben estranged from Jaina and now he was here, preparing to escort her to the side of the man that she would spend the rest of her life with. They had come a long way.

Han hugged her tighter, trying not to think about all of the things that Jaina had seen and done in her life- all of the things that he hadn't been able to protect her from, and said softly, "I love you, Jaina."

Jaina pulled away from him and smiled at him brilliantly. "Thank you, Daddy." This time she did slip her arm through his.

Han patted her hand with his as they stared ahead at the doors, standing closed in front of them. Jaina took a long serene breath and then cocked her head over at her father. "I'm ready now, Dad."

Han took on last look at Jaina, unable to restrain his proud smile and then said. "All right then, kiddo. Let's go."

Together they walked towards the doors, father and daughter together again for the first time in years, to celebrate a turning point in Jaina's life. As they passed through the heavy ornate doorway and walked into the large ceremonial chamber, Jaina's fingers clenched tightly around Hans' arm. She felt a flash of nervousness pass through her at the sight in front of her. On both sides of the path before her sat dignitaries from dozens of different worlds. Senators, High Councilors and Admirals mingled with Grand Moffs and high ranking Chis officials. The Chief of State, Cal Omas, and Grand Admiral Pelleaon shared a large row of seats, full of their entourages.

In another section sat all of those that Jaina counted as family and friends. Leia sat next to an empty seat, waiting for Han to take his place at her side with a wide smile for her daughter that still couldn't hide the hint of perpetual sadness in her eyes. On Leia's other side, Tahiri was seated. She and Tenel Ka were sitting on either side of Jacen and both were well aware of their friend's discomfort with the situation. His responsibilities as the Supreme Overlord were continuing to change him, but today he looked more like the young boy that he had been when they had first started at the Jedi Academy. Jacen was beaming with joy for his twin and he looked confident enough, but sitting next to Tenel Ka, he still looked slightly nervous and unsure. The way that he was unconsciously leaning towards Tenel Ka, however, made Jaina wonder if that might be the reason that for the way that Jacen looked. Tenel Ka had always had that effect on Jacen. Perhaps some things hadn't changed. The thought made Jaina flash her twin a quick smirk and send him a teasing thought through the Force. Jacen would get the message well enough.

Jaina almost had to laugh at his startled and bewildered thought in response. For all that he was now truly and officially the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong, Jacen was still clueless about certain things- like his feelings for Tenel Ka.

Luke and Mara caught her eye next. They sat next to Tenel Ka with a now not- so-little Ben sandwiched between them. Jaina met Mara's eyes and sent her aunt a feeling of thanks through the Force. Mara had been instrumental in rescuing she and Jacen. There was nothing that she could ever do to thank Mara enough for that and everything else that her aunt had done.

Jaina didn't notice the look that Luke and Mara exchanged behind Ben's head as she turned her gaze away. It was full of love and unwavering commitment. Mara hugged Ben tightly to her side, ignoring the way that he squirmed impaitiently and leaned behind him to meet Luke in a gentle kiss.

As she and Han neared the end of the walkway, Jaina glanced to her other side and found her gaze settling on the Fel family. A corner of her mouth crooked into a lopsided grin as she thought about her introduction to them. It had been memorable.

* * *

 

_Jaina drummed her fingers against her arm impaitiently as she waited among the tall flowing grass. Naboo was a beautiful world , at times, even more beautiful than the place where she had visited her grandparents in her dreams, but not even Naboo's innate serenity could soothe her impaitience today._

 _In a matter of moments, Jag would be arriving, coming back to her after spending over a month with his family on Csillia. She had missed him so badly and worried about him almost constantly. While the war with the Yuuzhan Vong had all but ceased now that Jacen was the new Supreme Overlord, there were still groups of renegade Vong warriors throughout the galaxy who would love nothing more than to destroy a lone spacecraft. Her other worry had been more nebulous and yet even more terrifying. What if he got back to his parents and his former home and decided that he simply liked it better? Or what if the Chiss didn't allow him to leave?_

 _

Those fears had visited her nightmares repeatedly and haunted her waking thoughts more than she cared to admit. It was fortunate, Jaina knew, that most of her family had been here on Naboo, with her. Leia and Mara especially had reassured her that they had felt the same doubts and fears a thousand times when their husbands were away and reassured her that if he loved her- and Jag did- that he would come back to her. Nothing could keep him away. It had helped, Jaina supposed, but now Jaina was glad that she didn't have to worry anymore, at least not about Jag being gone.

She watched the sky intently now, struggling to pick Jag's clawcraft out of the sky. She watched, as she caught sight of him, with a professional eye as he brought his clawcraft skillfully and smoothly down. She waited impatiently, discarding any pretense of Jedi calm, for him to climb out of his clawcraft.

The instant that he was on the ground, Jaina threw herself into his arms and then snaked a hand up in to his hair to pull his head down for a long kiss. The war was over now, for the most part, and as far as Jaina was concerned Yun Harla was part of her past. It was incredibly freeing not to have to play that part anymore.

AS they pulled apart a moment later to breathe, a small smile crept over Jag's lips. "I missed you so much, darling." He leaned back towards her for a shorter kiss and wrapped an arm around her waist tightly.

A loud, pointed grunt that barely attempted to disguise itself as a cough caught their attention immediately and pulled them out of their kiss- startled.

As Jaina turned in the protective circle of Jag's arms, and got her first look at the people staring at them, she quickly took a step away from Jag's embrace.

Jag let his arm slip from her waist, but refused to let go of her completely, threading his fingers through Jaina's and bringin their joined hands up where they were clearly visible.

"Father," Jag addressed the tall, imposing man who was looking at them with a hint of disapproval, "Mom," he added looking at the beautiful, but slightly worried looking woman beside his father, "I want you to meet the woman that I love, Jaina Solo."

The tension and air of disapproval flowing through the Force around Jaina did nothing to calm her nerves. Only Jag's strong presence beside her, shining through the Force with his love for her, calmed her. She took a slight step forward and extended her hand towards General Fel. "It's a pleasure to meet you, General Fel." Jaina almost flinched at the quaver that she had heard in her own voice. She had faced Shimrra with more calm than this.

The General cooly folded his arms behind his back and looked at her pointedly. "You hardly seem like the woman that my son described, Colonel."

That had pricked Jaina's pride and she had straightened up sharply. "How so, General?"

He looked her over skeptically, "You don't seem to be like any of the other Jedi that I've ever seen and you certainly don't seem to have the discipline required of a competent pilot."

Jaina restrained her scowl and the biting retort that she longed to unleash on the General for his comment about her piloting skills and said instead, "If the General doubts my piloting skills, why doesn't he test them himself. I would be more than happy to fly against the General on a simulator or in a blanks only fight."

The comment seemed to please the elder Fel for some reason and a ghost of smile slid over his features. His nod was barely perceptible. "Maybe I was wrong," he allowed, "You certainly seem to have inherited your mother's diplomatic skills."

Jaina couldn't have disagreed with him more, but she had held her tongue then, as she would do many more times in the following days. The conflict had seemed to pass then with that comment, and she was content to let it lie.

Still the conversation had taken a turn for the unpleasant several times since the Fels had arrived. Jaina didn't think that they had quite forgiven Jag yet, for falling in love with her and causing them to leave Chiss pace, but surprisingly Cem had turned into their ally. She seemed to have forgiven Jaina, at least partially for manipulating her and she had realized that Jaina truly did love Jag. That had helped, as had Cem's growing friendship with the very man that had insulted her father and fought with her.

_

_Still there were moments when Jaina just wanted to take Jag and hide from the rest of the galaxy._

* * *

  
_This was not one of those moments_ , Jaina decided, as her gaze finally traveled to the man standing at the end of the path waiting for her.

Jag looked incredibly handsome as he stood before her, a beaming smile spread across his face as he watched her with adoring eyes. As Han let go of her hands and placed them in Jag's, all Jaina could see was Jag. Nothing else mattered as Jag raised one of her hands to his lips, gently kissing it, and then taking her other hand gently in his. She gripped his hand tightly and felt him respond with a slight squeeze. Jaina cherished even that small symbol of their connection, as they turned to face Kam Solusar, who would be performing the ceremony.

_Behind them, unseen by all stood a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman who stood lovingly next to him, wrapped into his loving embrace._

_"She's so happy now," Padme spoke softly, even though none could hear._

_Anakin nodded beside her, "She is indeed. Jaina chose to follow her heart and she definitely chose wisely. She made the right choice," Anakin repeated, "And I am very happy for her. Fel truly loves her. This," he said with a wide smile, "This is her destiny." The spectral couple shared a lingering, loving glance before turning their attention back to Jaina and Jag as the ceremony began to conclude._

_They were just in time to hear Jaina whisper, "I love you, Jagged Fel," and pull him into a kiss that sealed their love and their future together.  
_   
**The End.**


End file.
